I don't know about other people, but I'm constantly overwhelmed by podcast recommendation threads. People recommend podcasts that each have hundreds of episodes. I certainly won't listen to all of them just to catch up. What I want is a list of must-listen episodes and short series. Does such a thing exist?
When starting a new podcast I normally listen to the newest one. Then it depends on the style. News/current events podcasts, just listen to new ones. Others, browse the history and cherry pick ones that sound interesting or download them all.