Podcasts show up in spotlight search but not in Podcasts App

As has been readily documented here, the Podcasts App is incredibly bad. IOS and ipods used to handle podcasts so well, then this stunningly bad application is forced upon us. It's true that in a practical sense nobody cares about Podcasts like they did the Maps app, but the map data is getting fixed and the application itself seems to work great. The Podcasts app on the other hand, functions that have been around since early ipod days, has from day one been horribly broken. I can't believe this went through any QA or App Store approval process. <End Editorial>

I have created several podcast playlists and told iTunes to sync them to my iPhone 5 (running IOS 7.0.3). All but 1 list sync correctly. I've reviewed the files in the failing list and can find no reason they would not sync. The tags are populated in a similar manner to the working lists. I've tried varying the settings on the Podcasts app (icould on, icould off, sync subcriptions on/off, etc).

The fact is for this podcast - only 1 episode is available to play in the Podcasts App. Only 1 episode displayed, BUT a spotlight search shows that all the episodes are indeed on the phone. When I select an episode from spotlight, it sends me to the Podcasts app and does nothing because the Podcasts app doesn't see the episode. Only the 1 magic episode that Podcasts likes is there.

I've tried a full reset/wipe of my phone and set it up as a new iPhone. Starting from scratch with no data on the device, even a new device name and still this problem happens. I've looked at the files themselves, including spotlight mete data and don't see anything that would prevent them from showing up. Permissions are identical to files that work. I've even tried other formats - mp3, AAC, Apple Lossless and still it does not work. Using the application PhoneView, I was able to verify that the podcasts are on the phone and they are reporting themselves as podcasts (just like all the files that work)

I've also tried varying the sync method: Wi-Fi, USB connected directly to Mac (each USB port), USB connected via hub - again no change in behavior

Any suggestions?