Playing speed of podcasts set to super fast with no slow down option I have tried for about two months now to slow down the playing speed of my podcasts in Apple Podcasts on iPhone 6S (iOS 12.4.1) and have had no luck.
It always used to be the correct speed until one day podcasts started playing so fast you could barely understand them and they have never slowed down since.

I use VoiceOver and however much I turn the VoiceOver speed down it doesn't effect the podcast playing speed.

Any suggestions for how to fix this as I would like to be able to listen to podcasts again using Apple Podcasts? I cannot see a speed control anywhere.
Tap the sign 2x in the podcast app which you get in the app at the bottom left in Music Player overlay. It will reveal 0.5x, tapping again sets 1x, then 1.5x and then again 2x. You need to tap the music player first, not available in locked menu etc. 

On the bottom, below the volume slider, there are three options: Speed, Airplay (or something that is used to set volume output device), and the three dots ( for more options). This order is from left to right. And on iPhone SE, and for most iPhones I guess, this fits the screen and doesn't need scrolling down. Scrolling further down, "Turn off after" and share menu etc appears. 

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT201859#listen