I think it is not behaving the way it should be. On iOS 14, there were three categories on the Listen Now tab:
- Up Next (list of unplayed episodes)
- Latest Episodes (list of latest episodes, regardless of status)
- Recently Played (list of played episodes).
As of iOS 14.1, Latest Episodes shows only the unplayed episodes, making it more or less identical to Up Next. Futhermore, when there are no unplayed episodes left, the tab shows no episodes whatsoever (including no recently played list). Below you can see the change from 14.0.1 to 14.1 - keep in mind that outside of the iOS update, nothing has changed about the individual episode play status.
iOS 14.0.1:
Same happening on mine as well, when I have an unplayed episode in listen now the page populates with the rest of the stuff but once the podcast finishes the page becomes like your before screenshot. Also noticed that my notifications for new episodes stopped coming through as well ever since iOS 14.1