Everything you need to know about Amazon’s $15 min. wage and the new app backed by Bill Gates

In a surprise move, Amazon announced this week that it will raise its internal minimum wage to $15 an hour for all employees, including part-time and seasonal workers. It also vowed to lobby to raise the national minimum wage.

The move comes after months of criticism and damning media reports that described harsh working conditions in Amazon warehouses. Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been lambasting Amazon for work conditions for weeks, praised the move and encouraged other companies to follow suit.

We tell the full story, including some reasons why Amazon may have made the move, on the latest episode of the GeekWire Podcast.

Plus, we’ll take you behind the scenes with Likewise, the new recommendation app hatched out of Bill Gates’ private office. The app is aiming to make it easier to share and track recommendations with friends. It was the brainchild of Gates’ right-hand man, Larry Cohen, and Gates is funding the project.

On the Random Channel: A look behind the action of the GeekWire Summit and the newest hip burger to hit Seattle.

Listen to the full episode in the player below or subscribe to the GeekWire Podcast on your favorite app to listen on the go.

This week’s stories:

• Amazon raises its minimum wage to $15/hour, vows to lead push for higher U.S. minimum wage
• Bernie Sanders and other leaders laud Amazon’s $15/hour minimum wage announcement
• Amazon criticized for ending warehouse bonuses and stock awards in shift to $15/hour wage
• Amazon investor and activist Nick Hanauer: ‘PR stunts are easy and cheap. Significantly raising wages for workers is not’
• Recommendations startup Likewise emerges from Bill Gates’ private office, letting friends track and share their favorite things