Gimlet Media produce a podcast for the Amazon Alexa

Gimlet Media is producing a podcast especially for the Amazon Alexa platform. It’s called Chompers and is designed for kids to help them brush their teeth: sponsored by a toothbrush and toothpaste brand. Except: “Mr. Lieber said that Amazon’s rules prevented Gimlet Media from disclosing Oral B’s and Crest Kids sponsorship during the show, which it otherwise would have done.”

Variety and iHeartMedia are collaborating to make Playback, a film-focused podcast. Of note, iHeart will be making “custom vignettes that will air across its digital network and broadcast radio stations, introducing the podcast to its more than a quarter of a billion monthly listeners across the country.”

• iHeartMedia are expected to file for bankruptcy over the weekend, suggests a Bloomberg report. Tom Taylor Now, a respected radio industry newsletter, also says the board has also just approved big bonus payments for some top executives at the same time as the company is slashing commission paid to its salespeople. Liberty Media, majority owner of SiriusXM, Virgin Media, Formula One and minority shareholder of Pandora, wants 40% of iHeartMedia.

The Atlantic are really excited about a podcast about a rock band who broke up in 2011.

Hamish and Andy, former Australian radio hosts, return to their podcast. The series is on PodcastOne - owned in Australia by their former employers, Southern Cross Austereo. Astutely, it’s the same feed as their previous podcast of their radio show.

Spotify, the #2 destination for podcasts, has finally filed for an IPO. No date has been set, unusually.

Rogue Amoeba has announced it’s withdrawn Nicecast from sale. It’s a service that many podcasters apparently use for livestreams.

Our podcast app user-agent project: our data is now available for download, and you can also help edit it and add your knowledge.

The Guardian’s Hear Here reviews their podcasts of the week. It’s part of a weekly email newsletter. This week’s staff recommendations are Homo Sapiens and an Audible-only podcast, Questions of Faith.

Updated: the “who reads podnews” page with some data about who and where reads our newsletter. I’m grateful for your support.