How do I order a podcast playlist?

I have a "Current News" playlist set up in iTunes for NPR podcasts. I am accustomed to manually re-ordering them in iTunes like this:

Hourly newscast

Most emailed stories

Tech

Books

But I cannot get that order to stick when I sync to my iPhone. I have read many other discussions on this topic, and none of the usual suggestions work for this podcast playlist. (Use the number column in iTunes and manually sort; use "Copy to play order"; add "Playlist is Music" to the smart playlist criteria.)

No matter what I do, my iPhone playlist ends up in a different order, like:

Books

Most emailed stories

Tech

Hourly newscast

Is there another way to sort the playlist? Can playlists be sorted on the iPhone? Or is there some other technique altogether for listening to podcasts? (Do I need to reinstall the Podcasts app? It struck me as oddly separate, yet redundant.)

Thanks!