I use newsboat (cli program) to manage and download podcasts, which I sync to a Fiio M3k. it's solid, beautiful, and sturdy. Not using a smartphone for podcasts has been incredible for me, personally.
I'm aware that smartphones can do the all-in-one sync/download/play dance for podcasts. However, smartphones are basically tracking devices riddled with spyware, and I don't want one around me when I'm not on call.
Plus they're far too bulky, features change constantly, they throw ads at you when you're just trying to play music, and they don't have headphone jacks. They suck at audio playback. I have a few <$100 MP3 players that sound better than any smartphone ever, have a bunch of physical buttons, can connect to any pair of headphones I've had for the past 15 years, are extensible with a microSD card, can charge on a standardized connector, won't interrupt me with dings or calls while I'm listening, etc.
The benefits go on and on. It forces me to be deliberate about my actions - when I decide "I'm going to listen to stuff now", that's all it can do, and I won't get sucked into the multitude of features a smartphone offers. I get to make decisions about what I'm doing, not the designers of the smartphone. I get that they're interesting, neat devices. But they're overall the wrong choice for most things - you wouldn't replace your whole tool shed with a Leatherman.