That’s something I noticed a while ago: all podcasters have those huge microphones in front of them - sometimes with a gigantic boom - that wouldn’t look out of place on 1950s TV. But unlike in the 1950s, they’re not trying to hide them, no no: the more visible, the bigger, the better.
I can’t figure out the point of that prop. If I did a podcast, I’d try to unclutter the shot myself.
regarding your point 1: that is actually incorrect, take for example the sm7b (the big black tubular “radio mic” that is quite popular among youtubers) it is has a cardoid characteristic, so it basically picks up basically everything to its left and right as well, which is the same pattern as the “default rock mic”, the sm58. the main advantage for those bigger microphones is, that you can make them sound very clear and beautiful with less effort than a smaller (maybe even dynamic) microphone due to its higher sensitivity and more linear frequency response.