How do you turn off continue playing in Podcasts player in iOS 18?

I am differently-abled . (I don't have use of right arm/hand and poor motor skills in left hand.) The iOS 18 version of the Podcasts app automatically starts playing its own choices of podcasts downloaded to my iPhone or iPad through the Continued Playing function built into the App. I cannot turn it off either through the app or through Settings. (Yes, the continue playing option is set to off, but that does not stop the App from randomly (?) deciding that I want to continue listening to other podcasts. Please note, too, that this problem is NOT associated with creating my own queue. Worse, unlike the queue, which I can clear with one click on 'clear all', I have to delete each individual podcast on the Continue Playing list.

For someone with additional poor hand-eye coordination and spinal cord problems in my neck, I have to engage in a painful 5 to 10 minutes of clearing the Continue playing list -- one that I did not create and do not want. Worse still, if I fall asleep (often happens with the meds I am on), the app plays through its own "continued playing list, I then have to hunt for the ones that were played and re-download them and change their status to unplayed. More clicks, more needless painful activities that could be avoided if Apple engineers had thought through how this app was updated.

I have tried to notify Apple of the problem, but from the radio silence of the company, I can only surmise that it doesn't care. Does anyone have a work-around? Can you contact AppleCare on behalf of differently-abled customers (including me) and ask Apple to address this problem as quickly as possible? Thank you