5 episodes
Unread Outspoken
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- Society & Culture
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4.5 • 77 Ratings
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One December evening in 2019, Chris Stedman noticed a new message in his inbox from his friend Alex, sent at exactly 7 p.m. He and Alex hadn’t talked in a while—was Alex writing to tell him off for being a bad friend? But it wasn’t that. “listen,” the note read. “i am writing to let you know that when you receive this scheduled email, i will no longer be alive.” At the bottom of his message, Alex included a link to a private SoundCloud account. “here’s Alice recordings,” he wrote.
Alice. Alex had talked to Chris about her before. A Britney Spears superfan, Alex had befriended this anonymous figure in a Britney fan forum years earlier. Alice had become the stuff of legend in Britney fan circles, and for good reason—she happens to sound exactly like Britney herself. Why was Alex including these recordings in his goodbye email? Who was Alice, really, and what had she meant to Alex? More importantly, could she help Chris understand why his friend was gone? With help from Alex’s loved ones, Chris decides to track down the elusive Alice, in the hopes that she can answer some of the questions Alex couldn’t.
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Episode 4: Give Me a Sign
Chris finds some of the answers he's looking for in a Google folder Alex left behind—and others during a conversation with someone else who loved Alex dearly.
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Episode 2: Piece of Me
Some of the people who knew Alex best look back on how he changed their lives—and then give Chris the push he needs.
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Episode 1: Email My Heart
A scheduled goodbye email raises as many questions as it answers.
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Introducing: Unread
A show about looking for answers in the digital breadcrumbs people leave behind.
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Customer Reviews
This podcast isn’t at all what I expected
This podcast was refreshing in its honesty and openness, in ways that made me laugh, cry and feel validated. I haven’t heard a podcast like this since Serial Season 1. It is a love letter to growing up queer, from a boy to his friend, to Britney Spears, and to community (digital and irl).
If U Seek A New Podcast, this is it.
I put this show on on a whim late last night, and was immediately just sucked right into the story. My main reason for listening, was to get some more info on the Britney/Alice situation, because I’ve only heard snippets of it. Early in the first episode, my attention shifted entirely from that, to wanting to know more about Alex, his story, his friendships, everything. His love of Britney, and including her in everything he said and did, reminded me so much of myself. My dear, dear friend (that I met on a Britney forum over two decades ago) always say “it always comes back to Britney” because she is so much of who we are as people now. I resonated so much with Alex making friends and lifelong connections on a Britney forum, because I’ve done the same.
Highly recommend this podcast. Even if you aren’t into Britney (what’s wrong with you???), it’s such a beautiful show with a beautiful story. The Alice stuff is interesting, but the story of deep friendship and grief, is really what made it great.
Unbelievable
This podcast is everything everyone needs to hear. Listen to it, send it to your friends who might need to hear it - it changed my perspective on life completely.