Podcast stops playing in background

when I listen to Apple Podcasts on my phone and allow it to play in background, the longer I listen, the more frequently it stops playing my podcast. To the point it becomes every 30 seconds and I give up. If I just play and don’t use another window, it’s fine. My phone is up to date. It happens on wifi and cellular. I’m ready to move my listening to another app because it’s driving me nuts. I’ve reset, removed app and reloaded, turned off and on, changed wireless and cellular on and off. I’ve got nothing left.