Asking Alexa to play a podcast sounds like a simple request. But with podcasts appearing on a wide range of services, plus international distribution agreements, it isn't quite as simple as it sounds.

In fact, for the past year only Alexa smart speaker owners in the US have been able to ask the Amazon assistant to play a podcast from Spotify. This week, however, Amazon and Spotify extended this feature to 11 more countries.

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The feature is now available in the US, as well as the following countries:

• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• Mexico
• Canada
• Brazil
• India
• Austria
• Ireland

But before asking Alexa to play the next episode of your favorite podcast, you need to quickly set things up. To do this, follow the instructions:

How to listen to Spotify podcasts with Alexa

1. Open the Alexa smartphone app
2. Tap on the More button in the lower-right corner
3. Tap on Settings then Music & Podcasts
4. Tap on the Link New Service button if Spotify isn't already listed below
5. Follow the instructions to link your Spotify account with Alexa

Once everything is set up, you can ask for a podcast just as you would ask for a song or album Just say: "Alexa, play the [podcast name] podcast on Spotify, and the voice assistant will play the most recent episode.