Podcasts on iPad

[Greg Charles]

With the recent upgrade to ios 5, the iPod application on iPad seems to have changed how it handles podcasts. When I open up a podcast from the app (now renamed Music), I still see a list of episodes, but when I select one to play, it plays to completion, then stops. It used to automatically play the next episode in this case. I tried to see what would happen if I pressed the next button (two forward arrow glyphs) before the current episode ended, but it just makes the iPad stop playing as well. This new behavior is especially annoying since I tend to listen to podcasts in the car, where it's not possible to select the next episode and press play when the previous episode completes. I'm just left with dead air for the rest of my commute (or at least until the next red light). Is there a way to fix this, or failing that, a better application to listen to podcasts?