Podcast artwork is useful, but it is not reliable enough to carry the whole card. An image can be absent, use a retired address, load slowly, or fail on a particular connection.
A listener should still know which show they are opening. Keep the title and publisher as real text. Do not turn an empty image area into a card with no useful name.
Reserve a stable shape
Give artwork a fixed aspect ratio before the network request completes. This prevents nearby titles and controls from moving as images arrive. Use the same reserved space for the fallback so a failed image does not change the entire row height.
A simple fallback can use an initial or a neutral podcast symbol. It should not look like the publisher supplied official artwork. Choose colors with enough contrast, and avoid assigning a meaning such as “verified” through the fallback style.
Keep the original URL in your data rather than repeatedly rewriting it on every render. If you operate an image proxy, validate source addresses and size limits. A public image URL must not become a route to private network resources.
Decide whether alternative text adds value
When the adjacent text already names the show and the image is decorative, an empty alt value may avoid repeating the same title. If the image itself conveys additional information, describe that information briefly. The card's link still needs a meaningful accessible name.
Test an invalid URL, a delayed response, and an unusually large image. Also browse with images disabled. The list should remain easy to scan, and opening a result should not depend on the cover arriving first.