@mcg I'm not too familiar with their directory, as I usually subscribe using whatever app I'm using at the time. When I move to another app I just export the OMPL file and import on the new one. Isn't it just a directory ? Can't someone else do that ?
Regarding their own production, or possibly buying a few well known podcasts, I'm not sure I'd need those. I listen to a few, not many, and I have serious doubts those would be picked by them for that kind of service.
Locking podcasts behind a subscription service is something I find somehow unnatural. I haven't given this much thought (as you might already figured out!) but, for me, they're more... personal(?), or intimate(?) than a tv show, or a movie. I'm all for supporting the creators, via coffee, Patreon, or whatever, but having a subscription for a pack of podcasts doesn't feel right.
I pay for Netlfix, and Spotify. But not Arcade, or for Kindle Prime for the books. I'd rather pay for those individually...
Sorry for the messy reply, it's getting a bit late, and I'm thinking out loud with the keyboard.