believable was really well done and i enjoyed it a lot. the last few minutes of the last episode actually made my jaw drop. wasn’t a big reveal, wasn’t anything wild, just REALLY good producing to leave you on a bit of a cliffhanger. wish that there was more justice for the victims :(

Overall a solid podcast. Could definitely do without all the AI voice clones though.

Overall, this story is interesting and well researched. Anyone who has liked swindled, scamanda, and the likes will enjoy this. I do agree with other reviews that the jumping to conclusions about Gregor did bother me (language translation is never perfect & I don’t really know many people who keep documents for 15+ years so? I don’t understand how that was weird to all of them). It’s super weird to be cutting slack to someone you made a whole 12 episode podcast about but then make someone else out as suspicious after one interaction. But everyone has bias and everyone is entitled to their opinion, so that’s why I still rate it very high and still enjoyed it very much.

Listening while on an 8 hour car ride. Captivating.

I really need this to be a Netflix docuseries! Great story. Great reporting. Very well-done

Excellent research, reporting, and production and a fascinating story. Highly recommend.

A riveting psychological profile - I binged it

This story is absolutely shocking and utterly addictive! I found myself eagerly anticipating each new episode. The gripping details kept me completely captivated. It's astounding to think that someone like this could actually exist and evade justice for such selfish crimes. My heart goes out to all the individuals she exploited, and I can hardly wait to hear where she is now and what other scams she is involved in!

In the end, the hosts make scurrilous insinuations unsupported by evidence about the mother’s boyfriend, even though Coco is a proven liar. They suggest that the fact that he doesn’t have written evidence of his innocence is suspicious. This is clearly an unjust approach to judging him. The uptalk and vocal fry are extremely irritating. They go to Germany and leave a letter at the wrong address without an envelope? Seriously unprofessional behavior. Honestly, I’m a woman and a feminist, and this podcast is embarrassing for all of us.

I thought the reporting was fine and very in depth. My problem was the AI voice recording and the need to talk about how great it was. I don’t understand why they had to use it for reading their own text messages and why they couldn’t have had an actor or someone in their production read the text messages and posts instead. Honestly I would’ve rated this higher if they’d used voice actors, because it was a really good podcast.

The host has vocal fry and talks so slow! But still interesting story.

To summit up quickly these reporters did a ton of work on this and didn't get to a conclusion. But they went and did the podcast anyway to justify all the work they did. Understandable. But it's like writing a movie for two years and then never writing the ending. Also the "believe women under every circumstance" narrative is ridiculous. They say 2 to 10% of reported sexual assault is made up. And they discount that number with glee. That's not an insignificant number when you realize the effect on someone's life those accusations can have. Would you point a gun at a loved ones head knowing there was only a 2 to 10% chance of a bullet being in the cylinder? Of course you wouldn't.

Good story but the constant “this is AI and isn’t it so good and so amazing?!” got so tiresome. Like, I get it. AI is good, I don’t need to hear it over and over again.

Why are you liberal woman so obsessed with Trump and need to bring it into everything…. Literally brought nothing to the story and was pointless. I stopped there… you lost all credibility and I’m done. Journalism is Dead! Congrats!

Why use AI? What a weird choice.

For 10 episodes, we hear about all the heinous false rape accusations Coco throws around against numerous people, real and imagined – it’s her go-to lie – but suddenly, when it comes her claims about the mother’s ex-boyfriend, we’re supposed to think she wasn’t lying in that one specific instance? It feels like the podcaster is grasping for a way to “believe women” and has decided to throw this guy under the bus in the interest of serving that narrative. Maybe he’s a bit of a gross dude, but why should we think that Coco’s accusations against him are any more credible than the multitude of others she’s made? Even as an unabashed feminist myself, I find this rather unbelievable. 2 stars because I was enjoying it up until the last episode.

I was so happy to hear a different story that might be like other podcasts like, Scamanda. (Way better than this one) I hate the political vantage point this whole thing plays and the constant side choosing throughout this, not just looking at the “facts”. They should stick with the story that the title says, not create their own agenda. Also, criticizing a movie bringing sex trafficking to light is gross. Stop listening at middle of number 5!

Oh how I was excited for a new and interesting podcast. I love supporting women podcasters and journalists. But when they bring in extreme political personal views, continuously bring up Trump, put down a movie that was intended to shine a light on sex trafficking, I feel so disappointed. A small percentage of people actually care about your personal political views, make a separate podcast about that. But please just tell a story and be professional about it. Leave your agenda at the door. Hire actual actors instead of AI generated content. It wasn’t very good and had a horrible “stop start” feel to the rhythm of the story.

Like someone else said, the show is well done and well produced, but a few episodes too long. I listened to about 7 and decided to skip over 2

i’m so confused why you keep bringing up donald trump?!?!?! it’s so weird

Listen to Sympathy Pains if you want to hear how an ethical clinician (Stuart Eisendrath MD) talks about psych conditions. NO ONE with credibility would discuss possible dx for a patient he hasn't seem. Extremely inappropriate. Coco is often talked about w/o sensitivity for her obv vulnerability and likely mental illness.

What a crazy story. The entire time I kept thinking if only she would expend as much time doing something productive as she did fabricating lies and manipulating people she’d be so successful. I’m thinking she would make an excellent fiction writer!

Impressed with how thorough the story is and I was hooked initially. They REALLY did their research because there’s a ton of detail. However…. The show starts to drag near the end and the story starts to feel convoluted and anticlimactic. By episode 8 I’m ready for resolution not more unanswered questions. Kinda just want to know if Coco is for real or not at this point and the lack of clear answers is frustrating. Also BOOOOOOOOO using Ai, pay real people!

I was hooked on episode one. The journalism here is top tier. This podcast is a must listen!!!

This podcast was great. I felt they were neutral and giving good facts about Coco Berthmans story. One episode about her mom, she even said that she was taking everything her mom said at 50% because she could very well be a master manipulator. Which I thought was exactly how journalists should be. Until the very next episode they seem to joke about human trafficking and don’t give that same mind set to those who have supposedly said they’ve seen it with their own eyes. I don’t know. Seemed pretty hypocritical and typical journalism for today. So I’d take everything she says with a grain of salt. I’m curious to see if the rest gets pretty biased.

I enjoyed about 4 episodes of this podcast. However, once it started veering off into politics it just became like many many other things put out by journalists these days. I don’t expect podcasts to be free of bias but to air opinions as fact without a balanced viewpoint seems irresponsible, especially with a subject like human trafficking. There were many statements made about what human trafficking doesn’t look like. Why not include an episode about what it does look like? That might actually help the cause. If I was a victim of human trafficking I would be offended by Coco. Sadly though, I think I’d also be offended by this podcast.

I loved the story which blended true crime and psychology into a bizarre tale. The reporting was excellent and the narrator was great. People are so crazy! Loved this podcast.

It’s just not ethical to allow widespread use of AI to take creative jobs. Even if it means getting on a platform like Fiverr and paying an amateur college student, podcasters can, and should, let actual humans do voice acting. And this AI actually wasn’t that good. Didn’t get her accent.

You have the money to hire human beings for your production. AI actors sound like uncanny valley and it’s distracting.

The story was compelling and I had to stop listening once the host started spewing lies about conservatives. Talk about using a platform to spread false information. Ironic that your form of journalism is being used for lies just as coco used her platform. Take a closer look at yourself.

This podcast was interesting. I’d never heard Coco before. But the producers, host, and even some guests made some pretty ethically questionable decisions in the process of reporting it. For example, it’s pretty ethically dubious for a psychologist to diagnose someone they’ve never spoken to before. In Coco’s case, at least we have substantial information about her, but we have almost no information about her mother, who they also diagnostically speculate about. Then there’s Gregor, one of Coco’s accused abusers. He did say and do some questionable things, but certainly nothing that indicates he abused anyone. Yet, the host and producers speculate endlessly about what every mundane action or phrase might *really* mean. It’s very irresponsible to speculate so wildly about someone’s guilt, especially regarding such a serious accusation — one that the police found no evidence of. Personally, I think they should have just done a shorter podcast instead of adding all of this wild and irresponsible speculation.

I wanted to like this podcast. But it dangerously veered from measured, meaningful journalism into a sensational, reality show romp. In particular, the host (who is a highly regarded journalist) shockingly circulated a letter containing sexual abuse and trafficking allegations (that she knew to be unverified and in fact believed to have been dismissed by the police) to the person’s neighbor without an envelope. And then laughed because she did so because she had spilled her Diet Coke. Listen, I’m a feminist, I do not condone sexual abuse of any kind, I typically unhesitatingly believe victims until there is a reason not to. However the “victim” here has been convicted of fraud and appears to be a compulsive liar who is seriously mentally ill. Maybe let’s not ruin a man’s life for podcast ratings. Super sad and gross.

Got way too political. Started out interesting but I got to a point that I didn’t even care what happened

It was fast paced and bingeworthy until about episode 5, then chaotic and fell off. I lost track of where we were going with this story, no real timeline. I'm sure the reporter feels the same about all her work, waste of time.

Was intrigued and entertained up until it became political. The references to conservatives making them sound extreme was off putting, biased, and ill informed. The “journalists” letting another “journalist” use their podcast as a platform to disparage an activist and then offering her opinion as well was disgusting. Other Problems: 1) I don’t need to be reminded every 5 minutes that you used an AI generated voice. 2)Did you actually see “Sound of Freedom”? Or talk to Timothy Ballard. It’s journalism like this that has caused such a rift between our two party system.

Knowing nothing about Coco, I found this an interesting pod. The production quality was pretty good overall. Unlike other reviewers, I didn’t mind the AI and understood why they needed to use it. There are some major points where the journalist is unprofessional in my opinion and that detracted from the quality overall. I’m shocked others involved in the production allowed anything with Gregor and his wife to be in it after how he was treated. The way the decade old plus dismissed accusations were revealed to those in his current life because of the lack of an envelope or her ability to find someone in Germany was shockingly distasteful. Especially when Coco has told so many lies about so many others. Instead of straightforward journalism where the listener can decide - production at times deviates into accusation filled side conversations with each other where they ask and then answer oddball questions like why the police didn’t make Coco get mental health treatment when investigaing fraud. As if the police would be able to decide and enforce anything like that.

I wanted to like this podcast more, but it got really repetitive and boring around epsiode 5. Having a hard time finishing it.

Rating this a 5 to offset all the really weird negative reviews about politics, as that has nothing to do with the story. My true rating is 2.5 stars. I enjoyed the journalists but I found their storytelling style to be really chaotic and unreliable. The podcast doesn’t have a genuine story arc and for such a serious topic, it surprisingly lacked depth. We hear snippets of troubling anecdotes from folks who interacted with Coco, but it was hard to emotionally connect with her “victims” because everything was so sensationalized and insane from the start. There was nothing to build to that felt like a genuine bombshell and revelatory moment. Further, it was really hard to follow along with the countless interviewees and to understand their importance to Coco’s story overall or the legal case against her. Quite frankly, every American interviewee seemed interchangeable. I ended the series feeling like there was not a strong takeaway or factual understanding of what happened. I also personally found it frustrating how much they teetered on “believing” Coco vs not, as it often muddled their narration (read: unreliable note above.) If you want a snackable and buzzy story, this is an oddly upbeat and wild ride to dive into, but I wouldn’t personally recommend it to a friend. That said, I hope this review isn’t offensive because the journalists conducted an excellent investigation and they do truly seem lovely and knowledgeable. As far as storytelling, I believe they just got overwhelmed with the craziness of Coco.

So well done! Thank you for your great work!

Some people are giving this a bad review because they say it’s unethical to delve into a celebrity’s life?? Hello? When you willingly make yourself a PUBLIC figure based on lies you forfeit the rights to privacy that others of us enjoy. When you DEFRAUD people of money and free rent and endless emotional labor people have the rights to warn others. Also as a society we need to learn about and understand pathological / compulsive liars and what motivates them.

Yuck, didn’t even cover up how left these women were. Terrible podcast.

I love these type of podcasts. I think they help us get away from the political nature of today. And I have done a lot of research as well on Tim Ballard, and the amazing work that he has done. So I had to stop listening after episode six. It got so political and left leaning and I could not believe that the guest you had on that episode said all the things he had said about the work Tim Ballard has done. Maybe you should’ve interviewed some of the kids that he has saved along the way to see if they have the same take as the journalist who’s made a life of trying to take down this organization.

This is my first exposure to a true crime podcast, and I am very impressed. This is professional storytelling through and through. The journalists gathered so much relevant information, while continuing Coco’s story in a way that helps you to better understand her from all angles. They were kind to Coco and her struggles, while also calling out her deceit and horrible actions. The structure of the podcast is genius, each episode building onto the other. If this is the epitome of true crime journalism, I may be converted to the genre now! On a personal note, I came to this podcast for answers. I knew Coco personally. In fact, when they refer to the girls who bought her Celine Dion tickets, it’s my voice that’s heard. It’s a sound bite from the Studio 9 news where me and my friends were featured with Coco. You could imagine my surprise to hear my own voice in this incredible work. I greatly appreciated the care that the journalists took to understand Coco’s story from every angle. I hope that others like me, who were directly hurt by her actions, can find healing in knowing this information. Thank you, truly, to everyone involved in this work.

I know these journalists went to a lot of trouble to uncover an already uncovered story, but what’s been told here has been splashed like a wild tabloid cover. Mental illness including personality disorders, sociopathic behaviors, and self harm are not a joke. They are also not something to be giggled about by journalists, victims (on either side) or the more horrifying thing you’ll find in this absurd telling of one woman’s life and actions, mental health providers scoffing and laughing at a seriously troubled person in one breath and then diagnosing them (a person they have never met) in the next. It’s almost ironic that this podcast is so desperately trying to uncover the hidden salacious horrors of a mass manipulator narcissist by telling their story devoid of basic human empathy and perfectionism. Sharing and discussing with impunity a child’s medical notes from their six moth long inpatient mental health treatment for self harm and mental distress is shockingly vile. These episodes all start with the host letting the audience know that if you or someone you know is struggling, they have resources available- just don’t be struggling with anything that could be sensationalized and laughed at or you may just end up their next podcast.

I am glad this story is getting the attention it deserves. Too many people have already been duped by this woman. I really do appreciate the amount of time dedicated to research every angle of this story. I felt the journalists tried their best to substantiate any allegations. They are not just rumors or petty little lies. Scammers don’t stop scamming. They just get better and hurt more people. I really like the perspectives from actual survivors in last episode; I really appreciate it. Some cons: I got kind of tired of the AI thing but I get it. It helped a bit. Also I just don’t think it needed 10 episodes but like i said it was meticulously researched.

I absolutely loved this podcast and couldn’t stop listening! Coco’s situation is highly unusual and I really appreciated the work that went into trying to prove and/or disprove the rare nuances of her story. I appreciated hearing from the many people who were impacted by her lies and manipulative ways, but at the same time, I found myself empathizing with Coco at many moments. She’s a villain, she’s a hero, and she’s something in between that I can’t even quite describe. I highly recommend giving this a listen.

This is only a left side version to knock anything conservative views and QAnon instead of how this liar fooled everyone. I am a true crime fanatic. And she hailed how this is all a lie on QAnon when the names came out last night proving the Clintons are involved in pedophelia and other left leaning power players. This is so stupid

Well done. Meticulously researched.

I don’t understand the negative reviews. This podcast was a thoughtful, nuanced look at a sensitive situation. It held my interest throughout. And the narrator has a great voice.

The degree of glee with the podcasters use AI to “dramatize” the words of Coco (and, in a really odd interlude, themselves) is distressing for anyone who thinks about actors and their livelihoods. As creatives themselves, I’m surprised the podcasters would be so eager to use AI as a cheap replacement for trained voice actors. The content of the podcast is “eh.” I listened to this because it seemed similar to Scamanda, but it’s not. I couldn’t stop wondering what was even the point of telling Coco’s story.