Believe Her
4.8/5
Critic Rating
Believe Her is true crime, upside down. In September 2017, young mom Nikki Addimando shot and killed her partner, Chris Grover. She was sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison for murder. Through rare access to police audio, a month-long trial, conversations with Nikki, and original reporting, journalist Justine van der Leun lays out the killing, the evidence, and the aftermath. As this six-part series unfolds, listeners will put together different pieces of a disturbing puzzle. One thing is clear: perception ≠ reality. Believe Her is a riveting chronicle that grapples with assumptions we make about domestic and sexual violence, the lo...
Critic Reviews
Score: 4.4
Galen Beebe • Bello Collective • Nov 10, 2021
"On the one hand, I think Believe Her’s true crime positioning works. They can hook a listener who might just want a Law and Order: SVU-episode-for-the-ears and then slip in stats and moral positioning that deliver a deeper impact. On the other hand, the show’s aesthetic risks turning off listeners who want the investigation without feeling like they’re listening to true crime. And that’s my problem with it. Despite Believe Her’s problems, I still recommend you listen. It’s a very important story and a valuable addition to the complex, often-problematic true crime ecosystem."
Score: 5
Jenni Miller • Vulture • Nov 5, 2021
"Believe Her is crucial listening for anyone interested in the justice system and how society fails survivors of sexual violence.. Van der Leun artfully weaves together expert insight on trauma and sexual violence,…"
Score: 4.7
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter • Oct 25, 2021
"...it seems like a story of a woman who had been enduring abuse for a long time, but is surrounded by people who don’t trust her story and think that Nikki’s partner wouldn’t harm a fly...right now this is just a frustrating, well-done, story of a woman’s overlooked abuse."
Score: 5
Vince Mancini • Uproxx • Jan 6, 2021
"Van der Leun clearly has a fire under her ass to share this tale, and with it question the entire structure of the way the system treats abuse victims. Believe Her isn’t exactly what you’d call “light listening.” “Harrowing” is probably a better description. But give it a chance, it even has sort of a happy ending…"
