MICHIGAN RADIO & NPR PARTNER FOR POWERFUL INVESTIGATIVE PODCAST “BELIEVED” • LATEST PODTRAC PRODUCER RANKINGS

Michigan Radio reporters Lindsey Smith and Kate Wells

(Photo courtesy of Jodi Westrick Michigan Radio/NPR)

Michigan Radio reporters Lindsey Smith and Kate Wells have produced a stunning new investigative podcast series called Believed. 

Using the voices of survivors, Believed tells the story of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor who was convicted of sexually abusing patients for more than 20 years.

Believed, a limited series of eight programs from Michigan Radio and NPR, premiers Monday, October 22^nd. A trailer is available now [link] and on the NPR One app, Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, and wherever podcasts are available. Believed is thought to be the first station-produced podcast that NPR has distributed.

People around the world were shocked in early 2018 when more than 150 women testified at the sentencing of Nassar. Many questions were left unanswered: How Nassar escape justice for decades? How was he able to maintain his appearance as “a good guy” for so long? And why did authorities trust him? 

According to Smith and Wells, the tragic truth was that many well-meaning adults failed to believe them – or believed they were ‘mistaken’ about their experiences of sexual assault.

Women heard in Believed: (clockwise from the left) former assistant

Attorney General Angela Povilaitis, survivor Rachael Denhollander,

Detective Lt. Andrea Munford, survivor Kyle Stephens,

survivor Amanda Thomashow, survivor Brianne Randall-Gay

(Photo courtesy of Michigan Radio/NPR)

Believed uses survivors' untold stories, interviews with parents and detectives, and recordings from police investigations with Nassar to paint an intimate picture of the abuse, the times when the women were not believed and how survivors ultimately won justice.

Wells has extensively covered the Nassar story since allegations surfaced in 2016, building deep relationships with dozens of survivors, parents, detectives, and attorneys. As Michigan Radio's investigative reporter, Smith covered Nassar as well and led the station's award-winning Flint water crisis coverage.

Michigan Radio has produced more than 200 stories related to the case. Most are available online here. michiganradio.org

Michigan Radio is planning to air excerpts from the podcast series and NPR's Up First podcast will also provide excerpts. 

KEN SAYS: Believed represents the best public radio content making impact on a companion platform. These are what we call “Purposeful Podcasts” – Not meant to make money but intended to extend the value of public media. Michigan Radio and NPR get an “A+” for Believed.

NEW SERIAL PODCAST “PLEAS BABY PLEAS” DEBUTS AS A SMASH HIT

Serial’s third season caused audience numbers for the This American Life cluster of shows to increase its audience by over 41% from August to September in the Podtrac publisher rankings.

According to Podtrac, eight of the ten top podcast publishers increased their month audience in September compared with August.

Commercial publishers Wondery and ESPN also had significant gains. NPR remains the top American podcast publisher.