Can I change the default for podcast deletion after listening?

I have only just discovered that many of my cherished podcasts have been getting deleted after I listen to them. I originally set the option to NEVER delete after listening when I first installed iTunes years ago and I haven't change it since. However, I can only assume that it was changed by Apple during an upgrade at some point and I never noticed. The delete after listening option has been set to On for podcasts going back many years (2008 at least).

Two questions:

1. Is there some way to change the default setting to Off?

2. Is there a way to bulk change the setting for multiple existing podcasts?

Thanks.

For what it;'s worth; I'm running iTunes 12.1.2.27 on Windows 7 64-bit on a Dell Latitude laptop.