Weird. I use Pocket Casts on both an ipad and an Android phone every day with 50 subscribed podcasts and haven't had any of those things happen. Literally not a single one of those things. Several of those sound like a dodgy headphone connection though.
The only thing I don't like about it is that it's getting a bit unresponsive on the ipad 2 when you switch back to the app - takes a few seconds to respond to buttons.
I always connect via bluetooth to my car or to a jambox. The most recent time it randomly stopped playing was yesterday afternoon while driving - right in the middle of an episode on a long straight on the highway. For the record I have never had Google Music randomly stop playing using the same device(s) to the same car and jambox.
The position loss usually occurs with Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast where each episode is 3 - 5 hours long. I listen to about 30 minutes each time on the same device and sometimes it just resumes from a previous stop point rather then the most recent.
To demonstrate it forgetting about playing a list of items, start playing from an episode filter choosing Play All. Stop playing and then come back later. The lock screen will show that current playing episode as does the bottom of the UI. Press play in that. It will then play till the end of that episode and then stop - ie it forgets you were doing a Play All.
The only thing I don't like about it is that it's getting a bit unresponsive on the ipad 2 when you switch back to the app - takes a few seconds to respond to buttons.