I think this was handled well by the Cold team. :)

I’d hate to have my younger teen/preteen journals shared with ANYONE, even people I’m closest to. Hormones, immaturity, & so little life experience (but thinking I had it all figured out) made me such a confused jerk at that age.  I barely ever journaled, but I threw what I did away as a young adult because ugh....I wouldn’t want anyone to know what a huge jerk I was back then in my private thoughts and all, especially with regard to my parents (who were just trying to be good parents).  But Susan also - was wayyyyy less of a jerk/acted out way less as a teen than I did, for sure.  The fact that the Powells thought that these entries were indicative of anything more than moderate kid-parent strife for young teens is laughable. 

Now, if I was to go missing and there were recent journals detailing my life the person who probably disappeared me....I’d be ok with that being released to the public, if for no other reason than (besides the

Good question. This is a topic I have put a lot of consideration into over the years.

My preferred approach is to interview anyone I'm going to be talking about. With Susan, that's obviously not possible. We're left trying to piece together her experiences and frame of mind from the records she left behind. The journal and emails were obtained as part of the police investigation and became part of the case file. West Valley City made the decision to publicly release those materials when the case went cold in 2013, so part of the onus is on them.

Of course, I also bear responsibility in what I choose to include in the podcast. I believe the teenage journals should be off-limits on the grounds of personal privacy and relevance. This is a fairly common standard. There's a reason why juvenile criminal records are private, for example. In my mind, Josh gave up his expectation of privacy when he committed the murder of two children. However, Susan as a victim should not have her childhood 

Agreed. Also, we get to know Susan the person so well through them and see what a beautiful soul she was. She always wanted to see the best in everyone - even Josh’s undeserving behind.  Lots of times, victims get lost in high-profile cases and the public ends up knowing more about the suspect/POI. I feel like we know what a beautiful person & devoted mom Susan was in part thanks to those journals.  That’s a part of her legacy & helps make her more of a person to those who didn’t ever know her in life. She’s not “just” a woman who was likely killed by her husband/victim. 

Hearing what Susan went through and felt in her own words also disallowed/disallows the Powell family from controlling the narrative about who she was/that she’d leave her boys/that she ran away with another man/etc. That had to irk Josh & company - none of her own writings allude to or support any of their “theories” they wanted to promote as to why she was missing. That’s a small victory for Susan’s memory & for he

Without her journal entries, we’d all be thinking she was really stupid and crazy for staying with him. At least the journals give us context that she knew things weren’t right and was taking steps to try to get out.

Seriously! I won't mind, I'll be dead. Get my murderer off the streets! 

When I’m dead I totally want Dave to have my journals just sayin 

Seeing as this topic is central to the last few episodes - To Dave and Team: Do you not have any qualms about including excerpts from Susan's diary in the podcast? It was her private journal. If the diaries of her teen years are so out of bounds, why does this not apply to the later ones? It seems slightly hypocritical. I know I would be horrified if my personal diary was broadcast to the world. 

That being said, I absolutely love the podcasts and Wednesday has become my favourite day of the week. So, no hate from me, just an ethics question.

Susan's right to privacy