Introducing "Dear Alana,"

A devout Colorado youth, Alana Chen, disappears from Boulder, leaving behind dozens of journals that reveal her aspiration to become a nun alongside fatal secrets about sexuality and faith. Host, Simon Kent Fung, who shares a strikingly similar past, embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind her fate, while confronting his own demons.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
For better or for worse, like Alana was always my
moral compass, like she was so thoughtful, and.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Later in life I kind of came to regret that.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
It fell unfair, like a lot of pressure.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Breaking from overnight.

Speaker 4 (00:21):
Louisville Pollie are searching for a missing twenty four year
old woman.

Speaker 5 (00:26):
When I read about Alana Shen's disappearance, I couldn't look away.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Hi, my name's Alana. And last summer I went to.

Speaker 5 (00:33):
Campwatiwa, the shy girl from Boulder who loved fashion and camping,
who wanted to be a nun since she was a teenager.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
So Alana was like sneaking out to go to church.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Well, I thought was wow, she's really really conservative Catholic.

Speaker 5 (00:49):
But she kept a secret, one that was slowly tearing
her apart.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
I didn't know she was attracted to girls. No, she
didn't tell me.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
To me, it's like, oh, you're gay, be gay, drop
all the church stuff, like.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Forget about it.

Speaker 5 (01:01):
But she couldn't forget about it, and neither could I.
I too was torn apart by the struggle in my
quest to become a priest. But though I'd never met her,
I'd soon discover we had even more in common.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Rjnversents Addie Wuharto said, down with her family and Addie,
they tell you they believe conversion therapy played a role.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
We believe that homosexuality is a symptom of early childhood trauma.
We're not forcing people to change, We're just exploring.

Speaker 6 (01:30):
The mother says her daughter first opened up to a
priest at her church when she was just fourteen years old. However,
the church denies any conversion therapy was done.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
She didn't tell me, she told him, she confessed to him.

Speaker 5 (01:44):
From Tenderfoot TV comes a story of teenage rebellion and
spiritual manipulation, the price we pay to belong, and the
systems that pay no price at all. I'm Simon kent
Fung and this is Dear Alana. Listen for free on
Apple Podcasts.