Exactly! What features do we really need? Many “feature” suggestions I come across are people trying to make podcasts something they’re not so that they suit the person writing.
Taking notes makes sense to me for podcasts. Syncing with https://Readwise.io makes sense to me too.
I think most people listen to podcasts for fun and entertainment so it's unlikely they'll want to clip, get transcripts etc. But the small number of podcasts doing deep dives on scholarly, technical or professional matters? It's potentially quite useful to be able to get transcripts/excerpts with highlights and audio clips to add to personal notes for future reference.