Dear Alana
Storytelling > True Stories
About the Podcast
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.
About the Host
Simon Kent Fung
Host of Dear Alana, a podcast about faith, inner truth, & belonging. Simon is a hands-on design leader with a passion for thoughtful products and the team, vision, and stories that bring them to life. He's led design & research teams at Patreon and Google, invented Google's Popular Times, redesigned TIME.com, and art directed an award-winning film.