Simon travels to Boulder to meet Alana’s mother, Joyce, and becomes determined to help her understand what happened to Alana. This episode contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know is in need of help, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. Listener discretion is advised. ---- Go deeper at <a href="https://dearalana.com/">https://dearalana.com/</a> Subscribe to Tenderfoot+ for ad-free listening and an exclusive binge at <a href="http://www.tenderfootplus.com">tenderfootplus.com.</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Simon travels to Boulder to meet Alana’s mother, Joyce, and becomes determined to help her understand what happened to Alana. This episode contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know is in need of help, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. Listener discretion is advised. ---- Go deeper at https://dearalana.com/ Subscribe to Tenderfoot+ for ad-free listening and an exclusive binge at tenderfootplus.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Simon travels to Boulder to meet Alana’s mother, Joyce, and becomes determined to help her understand what happened to Alana. This episode contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know is in need of help, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. Listener discretion is advised. ---- Go deeper at <a href="https://dearalana.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://dearalana.com/</a> Subscribe to Tenderfoot+ for ad-free listening and an exclusive binge at <a href="http://www.tenderfootplus.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">tenderfootplus.com.</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="noopener noreferrer">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Part 1: Mom

4x nominee ​and WINNER at the 2024 Ambie Awards​.
Host Simon Kent Fung explores the life of Alana Chen, a 24-year-old woman who disappeared from Boulder, Colorado in 2019. Alana left behind two dozen journals chronicling a deep faith, love of fashion, and dream of becoming a nun. She also harbored a secret. At 14, she confessed to her priest that she was attracted to women and was instructed not to tell her parents. Over the next seven years, Alana covertly received conversion therapy which her family believes played a role in her fate. Simon, who sought to change his sexual orientation through conversion therapy for nearly a decade in his efforts to become a priest, is compelled to understand the truth of what happened to Alana—and finally face what happened to him. “Dear Alana,” is an unraveling mystery and a poignant spiritual memoir about teenage rebellion and spiritual manipulation, the price we pay to belong and the systems that pay no price at all.
****Named one of the best podcasts of 2023 by Apple, KQED, and Lifehacker, and critically acclaimed by The Guardian, the CBC, and ​People Magazine.
Explore more at www.dearalana.com

Society & Culture

Religion & Spirituality

True Crime

Personal Journals

4x nominee ​and WINNER at the 2024 Ambie Awards​. Host Simon Kent Fung explores the life of Alana Chen, a 24-year-old woman who disappeared from Boulder, Colorado in 2019. Alana left behind two dozen journals chronicling a deep faith, love of fashion, and dream of becoming a nun. She also harbored a secret. At 14, she confessed to her priest that she was attracted to women and was instructed not to tell her parents. Over the next seven years, Alana covertly received conversion therapy which her family believes played a role in her fate. Simon, who sought to change his sexual orientation through conversion therapy for nearly a decade in his efforts to become a priest, is compelled to understand the truth of what happened to Alana—and finally face what happened to him. “Dear Alana,” is an unraveling mystery and a poignant spiritual memoir about teenage rebellion and spiritual manipulation, the price we pay to belong and the systems that pay no price at all. ****Named one of the best podcasts of 2023 by Apple, KQED, and Lifehacker, and critically acclaimed by The Guardian, the CBC, and ​People Magazine. Explore more at www.dearalana.com

Share Part 1: Mom

Sign up to save your podcasts

Part 1: Mom

Part 1: Mom

More shows like Dear Alana,

Up and Vanished

To Live and Die in LA

Culpable

Radio Rental

Somebody

The Binge Cases: Fatal Beauty

Whistleblower

Dead and Gone

Gaining Ground: The New Georgia

Truer Crime

Algorithm

The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer

The MLK Tapes

This Day in Crime

Undetermined

Beyond All Repair

Rattled & Shook

The Estate

The Vanishing Point

Down Range

Radical

The Raven

Media Pressure

To Die For

THREE

Status: Untraced

Noble