I only used Spotify for podcasts when I used to be on the road all the time. For music, I've had a free Pandora account for years now. Does what I need it too. And with wireguard+pihole I don't get ads either.
This is funny because I remember the days people HATED Spotify for adding podcast and only listen to podcast on their own separated app (I use PocketCasts)
I like being able to queue an episode of something to listen to, and then going back to listening to music again. If it wasn't for that, it's kind of a crappy podcast player, yeah.