YouTuber Allison Raskin launches a new scripted podcast today

Gossip is a new scripted podcast from Allison Raskin (comedian, author and YouTuber), launching today. The Guardian say it “is devised as a soap opera and promises Desperate Housewives-style intrigue that you can dip in and out of”. Elle had an exclusive on the trailer. Raskin has 750,000 YouTube subscribers and her videos have been viewed more than 120m times.

S-Town is to be made into a movie, Deadline reports. This American Life will be involved in the movie production.

The Mafia-themed podcast, Mobshot, is also turning into a TV series. It appears to have been withdrawn as a podcast, though is available in audiobook format.

Head Ovary Heels - interviews with ambitious women, hosted by Felicity Loughrey - launched its new season last night in an event in Brisbane QLD, Australia. Also present at the launch were Audeara, headphones which are tailored, using an hearing-test app, to correct for any hearing loss you have.

The BBC have launched a set of new podcasts:

• Susan Calman’s Mrs Brightside is “a cheerful look at depression” and mental health, hosted by a comedian.
• The Grenfell Tower Inquiry with Eddie Mair is a daily package of updates from the ongoing inquiry into last year’s fire.
• No country for young women: “what it’s like for British Asian and black women to navigate today’s world”

James at MySpotifyIdeas spots a few changes with Spotify’s handling of podcasts: you can now see your “top podcasts” within the app - click the home tab, and scroll to the bottom. The Mighty, the offline Spotify player, will also support podcasts in a new update.

TPX, the Canadian podcast sales company, have signed a deal to represent WNYC Studios podcasts in the country. They join Australia-based Whooshkaa in representing podcasts like Radiolab and Here’s The Thing with Alec Baldwin.

The Amazon Echo has arrived in France - “finally”, says French tech site Numerama.

Podchaser has completed a funding round. Asked the obvious question, co-founder Cole Raven told us via email: “We’re keeping this round undisclosed for now”.

Back:

• The BBC’s Unpopped has returned for a second season.
• NPR’s Rough Translation - a look at how things being talked about in the US are being discussed somewhere else in the world - considers apologies in Japan, early childhood education in Ghana, and Jane Austen in Pakistan.