Episode 2: Go Ask Alice — The Fake Diary That Fooled America for 50+ Years

Actually... Forgotten Stories for Curious Minds · Jul 21, 2026 · 39m

In 1971, a "real diary" from an anonymous, drug-addicted teenage girl hit bookshelves — and terrified a generation. Except the girl never existed. "Go Ask Alice" was invented by Beatrice Sparks, a struggling writer with no real diary, no credentials, and no shortage of ambition. This week on Actually..., we trace how Sparks turned a fabricated hoax into a publishing empire, exploited a grieving mother's trust to fictionalize her son into a Satanist for "Jay's Journal," helped ignite the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, and somehow kept the con running for over five decades — right up to her death…