Why has 12.2.1.16 messed up my podcasts yet again?

You'd think I'd learn. One out of the last 5 iTunes updates hasn't wrecked my podcasts. This time it's forgotten all the ones I've already downloaded, giving me the cloud symbol against each one, completely lost track of which ones I've listened to/saved and ones I'd listened to on my iPod have now disappeared in iTunes so I can't save them. The new look is a total bloody nightmare.

So functionality screwed, look & feel screwed. Now I've got to restore my PC once again to get back to a working system. What is it with Apple and podcasts? It's my primary use of iTunes and it just gets worse and worse with each release,