Lemonada Media Partners with Spiegel & Grau for New Original Podcast 'Believe Her'

Lemonada Media, the podcast network that presents humanity unfiltered, and Spiegel & Grau, an independent multi-platform publishing house that publishes stories that matter, today announce their newest original podcast, Believe Her. The show is Lemonada’s first true crime series. In this six-part series, journalist and author Justine van der Leun investigates the case of Nikki Addimando, a case that shines a light on the devastating effects of domestic and sexual violence, trauma, and the American criminal justice system. This is a true crime story flipped upside down — a story about survival, punishment, and a push for change.

In September 2017, Nikki Addimando, a young mom, shot and killed her partner, Chris Grover. After an exhaustive trial, Nikki was convicted of murder and sentenced to nineteen years to life in prison. Through rare access to police audio, official documents, conversations with Nikki, and three years of original reporting, host Justine van der Leun lays out the killing, the evidence, and the aftermath. “Believe Her” is a riveting story that examines the assumptions we make about domestic and sexual violence, the long reach of trauma, and the ways in which survival is criminalized, leaving us astonished by how far people will go to avoid seeing what’s right in front of them.

“Nearly half of all female murder victims in the US are killed by intimate partners,” says van der Leun. “But what’s just as shocking is what can happen when a woman doesn’t die — when she fights back. With ‘Believe Her,’ we’re unraveling one complex, layered case of criminalized survival, and we’re asking: How can we stop cycles of trauma and violence? What does true justice look like?"

“As a network, we never thought we’d delve into true crime, but when Spiegel & Grau and Justine approached us about this project, it fit so well with our mission to amplify unheard voices and tell the human story buried beneath the headline,” says Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Lemonada’s co-founder and CCO.

“We believe that Nikki Addimando’s story allows us to grapple with important, difficult issues, upending our assumptions and making us question our beliefs. We are honored to partner with Lemonada to shine a light on the important issue of domestic and sexual violence,” says Cindy Spiegel.

The first two episodes of “Believe Her” from Lemonada Media and Spiegel & Grau will be available on all major podcast platforms on Thursday, October 21st.