If podman machine list (or Podman Desktop) shows your machine “Currently starting” but it never actually starts, this might help you.
Find the file ~/.config/containers/podman/machine/applehv/<your podman machine name>.json (in my case, ~/.config/containers/podman/machine/applehv/podman-machine-default.json) and edit it.
Near the end of the file, change "Starting":true to "Starting":false.
The machine should now start as expected.