The entertainment news website Vulture has selected Michigan Radio’s Believed podcast as one of their “10 Influential True-Crime Podcasts That Changed Everything.” Their listing points out that true crime podcasts are “…the engine that boosted the medium into the stratosphere,” and that some of the best journalism being produced today has borrowed from the production and writing style of true-crime podcasts. Besides Believed, other well-known true-crime podcasts on Vulture’s list are In The Dark, Dirty John, My Favorite Murder and Serial.
The Peabody Award-winning Believed series looked at how former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor Larry Nassar was able to abuse hundreds of women and girls for decades. The limited-run podcast, which premiered in October 2018, provided an intimate look at how a team of women — a detective, a prosecutor and an army of survivors — won justice in one of the largest serial sexual abuse cases in U.S. history.
In naming Believed to their Most Influential True-Crime Podcast list, Vulture cited it as “…unapologetically gripping, even entertaining, as it tells one of the most viscerally difficult true-crime stories of the modern era. “ They point out that Michigan Radio reporters Kate Wells and Lindsey Smith were well-versed with the Nassar story, having already reported on it for the station for several years. They also credit Believed for putting “…Nassar’s victims front and center, daring listeners to flinch as they detail stories about being groomed and molested.”
Michigan Radio’s latest podcast is Same Same Different. Hosted by Bryce Huffman, this podcast tackles issues of identity and how to survive “otherness” with your humanity intact. Same Same Different will begin its limited run on Monday, October 7, with new episodes available every Monday, through Nov. 4.
