Scene layouts for faster editing

I don’t know if this is the best way, but the way I would approach it is:

Build a sequence template using placeholder clips of the exact frame dimensions of the production clips; and position, scale, and crop each placeholder as needed. Include all necessary backgrounds, graphics, titles, etc.

When you need to edit a podcast, duplicate that sequence, and simply replace the placeholders with the production clips. Although you can select a clip in the Timeline panel and choose Clip > Replace with Clip, the shortcut I use is to drag the production clip out of the Project or bin panel, and while holding down the Option key (I’m guessing Alt key in Windows), drop it on the clip it should replace in the Timeline panel. The dropped clip should take on the attributes (position, scale, etc.) of the replaced placeholder clip. A few quick Option/Alt-drags can replace several placeholder clips with everything laid out properly, so then you move on.

There are probably more shortcuts, such as setting up all titles as Motion Graphics Templates so all you have to do is type in the text, but those are what occur to me off the top of my head.