Hey Team!
First, I am thrilled to be a new member of this community!
And Thank You in advance for your advice and counsel!

I have a new podcast (Crushing Defeat) and am trying to teach myself how to be a good sound engineer.

Here is my current setup.

2x Audio Technica ATR2100 Mics
Behringer UMC202HD Audio Interface
Windows PC (I5 CPU, 12GB RAM, 1.35TB HD)
Audacity and/or Voice Meeter and/or Tracktion 5
(Lately just been using Audacity)

After I record an episode, I listen to it through headphones to edit it.
What I find is that I get a lot of audio artifacts throughout the recording.
***Meaning, little digital sounding chips and blips every couple of minutes.***

Its been super frustrating. Thankfully they aren't as noticeable when the episode is played through a speaker, but some of them still come through audibly.

I've tried different software settings (but am not real versed here), making sure nothing in the studio is connected to the Internet, and closing as many programs on the PC as possible. This did not help.

I am wondering if...
Anyone else has experienced this?
What can I do to get rid of them?
If you have an artifact free recording setup, what do you use?

I also have an Edirol R-09 Digital recorder, and thought about trying that, but can figure out how to connect it with the UMC202HD. Or I have an iPad Air and thought about trying...

Thank you so much! Sorry for the length.
Blake