Daniel Ray did not have a religious upbringing, yet he somehow ‘knew’ God was real but kept him at a distance. He was living his own way on his own terms, but...
A STORY-DRIVEN PODCAST THAT HELPS LISTENERS UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE DISMISS OR BELIEVE IN GOD AND CHRISTIANITY
eX-skeptic
Interviewing one former atheist or skeptic each show, host Jana Harmon encourages both Christians and skeptics to consider what motivates thoughtful, intelligent people to move from disbelief to belief.
Making Sense of Science and Faith – Dr. Sharon Dirckx’s Story
Cambridge educated Dr. Sharon Dirckx was raised in a secular culture where religion played a minimal role. Intellectual authorities led her to believe that science and...
Dismantling Atheism – Daniel’s Story
Former atheist Daniel’s questions about the world and morality were dismissed by the religious people around him. His skepticism eventually revealed the logical flaws of...
Exciting News for Side B Stories
Side B Stories is turning the page to a new chapter! Listen and find out about our revamped podcast and content experience that promises to deliver even more extraordinary...
Excluding God – Dr. Dan Mizell’s Story
Former atheist Dr. Dan Mizell left Christianity and embraced science as the most rational way to understand and live in the world. Over time, he began to question...
Longing for More – Nate Sala’s Story
Nate Sala rejected his parents’ faith tradition of Christianity and pursued life on his own terms, but his life failed to bring satisfaction to his deepest longings. His...
Returning to God – Melanie Beerda’s Story
Although Melanie Beerda was raised in a Christian family, her life experience alienated her from the concept of a loving God. After leaving Christianity to go her own...
Struggling with Doubt – Dr. Keith Hess’s Story
Keith Hess grew up in a Christian family but began to question whether or not what he believed was real or true. His doubts went unanswered for years until he was...
Searching for the Real God – Carrie Sheffield’s Story
Former skeptic Carrie Sheffield suffered abuse at the hand of her religious father and developed a skewed view of God. After years of questioning and searching, she finally...
Searching for Truth – Dr. Kirk Shanahan’s Story
Chemist and former atheist Dr. Kirk Shanahan began to see science's inability to answer big questions of life and the universe. It opened him up to the search for truth and...
Experiencing the Miraculous – Dave Rankin’s Story
Former atheist Dave Rankin's difficult life experiences proved to him that God could not exist. Through his years of atheism, other surprising experiences awakened him...
A Christian’s Journey through Skepticism – Adam Terry’s Story
As a Christian, Adam Terry experienced an intellectual crisis of faith. His doubts and questions prompted an investigation to determine whether his beliefs were true. His...
Secular Jew Finds Christ – Dr. James Tour’s Story
From a secular Jewish home, scientific scholar and former skeptic Dr. James Tour encountered the love and reality of Jesus, and his life was immediately changed. Dr. James...
From Hopelessness to Hope – Al Gascon’s Story
Former atheist Al Gascon rejected God in light of his life struggles. His study of science further convinced him intellectually of what he felt personally, that God did not...
“From Addiction to Redemption” – Stephen McWhirter’s Story
Former atheist Stephen McWhirter rejected God because of Christian hypocrisy and abuse. Looking for comfort, he plunged into drug addiction. After an encounter with Christ,...
Intent on Making God Pay – Liam Back’s Story
Liam Back, a deeply entrenched skeptic, had a vendetta against God fueled by personal loss. His quest to “make God pay” led him to an unexpected embrace of the Christian...
Looking for Evidence – Mark McGee’s Story
Former atheist Mark McGee left his childhood Christian faith to search for truth in Eastern world religions, but it eventually led him into atheism. An inquisitive...
Becoming Skeptical of Skepticism – Matthew Sabatine’s Story
Former atheist Matthew Sabatine journeyed back and forth between faith and disbelief until he finally landed on a view of reality that best explained the universe and his...
“The mire of nihilism” – Christine Mooney-Flynn’s Story
Episode Transcript Hello, and thanks for joining in. I'm Jana Harmon, and you're listening to Side B Stories, where we see how skeptics flip the record of their lives. Each...
Out of Darkness – Chris Adam’s Story
Former atheist Chris Adam experienced a difficult, chaotic childhood and was drawn to witchcraft and demonology to gain control over his life. After being introduced to the...
Glimpses of God – Renee Leonard Kennedy’s Story
Former atheist Renee Leonard Kennedy left the God of her youth behind for what she thought was a more enticing life. After years of atheism, she was surprised to find both...
Deconstructing and Reconstructing Faith – Anna Gray Smith’s Story
Former skeptic Anna Gray Smith questioned her childhood faith and sought other avenues of belief to find identity, meaning, and truth. Her search led her back to a more...
God Showed Up – Jon Wilke’s Story
Former atheist Jon Wilke had no desire for God and wanted to go his own way. After years of living on his own terms, he became open to the possibility of God, and his life...
The Case for Christ – Lee Strobel’s Story
Former atheist Lee Strobel investigated Christianity in order to disprove it, but surprisingly came to believe it was true based on the evidence. Lee' Resources: The Lee...
Celebrating Three Years of Side B Stories
Side B Stories is celebrating three years of stories and honest conversations with former atheists and skeptics who are now Christians. Listen and celebrate with us! Side B...
Militant Atheist Encounters God – Dave Glander’s Story
Former skeptic Dave Glander grew up in difficult circumstances, pushing him away from God. After years of self-destruction and militant atheism, he challenged God and found...
Science, Philosophy, and Reality – Pat Flynn’s Story
Philosopher and former atheist Pat Flynn assumed belief in the naturalistic story of reality but eventually found it lacking. Through further investigation, he found the...
From Secular Humanism to Christianity – Susan Leonard’s Story
Former skeptic Susan Leonard was a secular humanist and worked as a successful professional on Capitol Hill. She saw no need for faith until she encountered Jesus Christ in...
A Scientist Searches for More – Dr. Alister McGrath’s Story
Former atheist Dr. Alister McGrath dismissed Christianity and embraced science as the only way to understand the world until he began to see problems with this limiting...
Looking Past Hypocrisy to Christ – Loren Weisman’s Story
Former skeptic Loren Weisman rejected the Jewish beliefs of his youth to embrace atheism. Although he encountered bad examples of Christianity in his search for truth, he...
Chasing Achievement – Dr. Vince Vitale’s Story
A Princeton and Oxford graduate, former skeptic Dr. Vince Vitale valued autonomy and pursued high achievement as the greatest good in life. When investigating Christianity,...
Exploring the True Story – Dr. Josephine Thomas’s Story
Archeologist, world traveler, and former skeptic Dr. Josephine Thomas once thought all religions were fictional stories until she finally encountered the 'true myth' of...
Finding Real Answers to Real Questions – Nigel Goodwin’s Story
English gentleman, actor, and former atheist Nigel Goodwin was raised within a Marxist worldview. He saw church as fabricated theatre until he found the real God. Podcast...
Searching for Something More – Neil Placer’s Story
Former skeptic Neil Placer was apathetic about the question of God until his own dissatisfaction in life led him to search for something more. Neil's Resources: Podcast: A...
Truth Seeker – Dr. Stefani Ruper’s Story
Former atheist Stefani Ruper was intellectually convinced of secular atheism, but found that it lacked substantive answers for her life. More than 13 years of scholarly...
Atheist to Pastor – Matt Bagwell’s Story
Negative life experiences caused former atheist Matt Bagwell to reject God and Christianity. Change in life circumstances allowed him to find an authentic kind of belief in...
Reasoning Towards God – Joshua Rasmussen’s story
Former skeptic Joshua Rasmussen left Christianity to pursue truth through reason and philosophy. Over time, his intellectual pursuit led him back to a strong belief in God....
Finding the Real God – Chris Waghorn’s Story
Former skeptic Chris Waghorn left his belief in the Christian God behind to embrace an Eastern, universal view of god. After several years, he rediscovered the Christian God...
Finding Jesus – Mason Jones’s Story
Former atheist Mason Jones thought Christian belief was an overly simplistic view of life and reality until he began to recognize its depth and complexity, its ability to...
From Millionaire to Minister – Stu Fuhlendorf’s Story
Former atheist Stu Fuhlendorf felt no need for God, achieving high level of success and power in the business world. However, his achievements were tainted by emptiness and...
From Anti-religion to Faith-driven – Will Witt’s Story
Former atheist Will Witt presumed atheism was true until his beliefs began to fall apart under the weight of scrutiny for grounding of his values. It opened him towards a...
Doubting Towards God – Pedro Garcia’s Story
Former atheist Pedro Garcia grew up in a secular culture, making it easy to leave his nominal religion behind. After encountering serious, intelligent Christians, he began...
Rational Belief – Malia Sienkiewiez’s Story
Former atheist Malia grew up in a religious home but she never personally believed in God. When she followed atheism's rational end towards nihilism, it led to her to...
Disproving God – Ben Clifton’s Story
Former atheist Ben Clifton thought religious belief was for the weak-minded, for those who didn't believe in science. His caricatures of Christianity began to break down as...
Letters to an Atheist – Nico Tarquinio’s Story
Former atheist Nico Tarquinio rejected a religion he thought was not worthy of belief. As a lawyer, he considered both sides in a search for truth and changed his mind...
The Mystery of God – Ken Boa’s Story
Former skeptic Ken Boa put aside his childhood faith and became a secular humanist who tested his philosophy through psychedelic drugs. After an agonizing search for...
Fighting Against God – Roger Sherrer’s Story
Everyone in his town knew Roger Sherrer as “the community atheist.” He thought belief in God was not only childish but bad and needed to be taken down. His atheism began to...
Philosophy Professor Explores Both Sides – John Wise’s Story
Through a serious study of philosophy, Dr. John Wise began to doubt his Christian beliefs. After 25 years of atheism, he began to question his disbelief. John's Resources:...
Never Too Far Gone – Mark Goodnight’s Story
Former atheist Mark Goodnight rejected God because of tragic life circumstances. After years of self-destructive living, he became convinced God was real through a series of...
From Evangelical Atheist to Evangelical Christian – Kim Endraske’s Story
Former atheist Kim Endraske believed in science and her own morality instead of God, yet she lived with a constant fear of moral failure and death. After her views were...
“A Fully Blown Atheist” – Claire Dooley’s Story
Claire Dooley left the God of the Jehovah's Witness religion behind and became an atheist. After encountering the overwhelming love of Jesus, she came to believe. To learn...
Celebrating Two Years of Side B Stories
For two years, we've been sharing stories of atheist and skeptics' journeys from disbelief to belief in God and Christianity. Thank you for listening and joining us along...
Astrophysicist Searches for Answers – Dr. Hugh Ross’s Story
Former atheist Dr. Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist, began an intensive search to discover the cause of the universe, and it led him to God. Reasons to Believe - www.reasons.org...
How Did Life Begin? – Fazale Rana’s Story
Former skeptic Dr. Fazale Rana, a biochemist, began to question whether evolution could explain the origin of life. He began to reconsider the need for God. Reasons to...
Science is Not Enough – Dr. Sy Garte’s Story
Dr. Sy Garte, a biochemist, was raised as a communist and militant atheist. He began to question his naturalistic worldview as he began to see the limits of science as the...
Pursuit of the True and Beautiful – Dr. Andrew Parker’s Story
Psychiatrist Andrew Parker's pursuit of the true and beautiful led him to consider the possibility of God, but his personal life hindered belief. After a long philosophical...
Plato Wasn’t Enough – Craig Keener’s Story
Professor Craig Keener became a convinced atheist at an early age. When philosophy left him without solid answers, his intellectual curiosity led him to consider the...
“Is there anything worth dying for?” – Andrew Sawyer’s Story
Former skeptic Andrew Sawyer lost faith in religion as a child and lost faith in humanity as an adult. He quickly realized that he still didn’t have answers for the...
From Fiction to Fact – Ian Giatti’s Story
From a non-religious home, former atheist Ian Giatti thought God was a character of fiction and fantasy like Santa Claus. His mind slowly changed as he began to realize the...
From Atheist Activist to Christian Advocate – Rich Suplita’s Story
Psychology professor Dr. Rich Suplita believed science provided the best explanation for truth, and he promoted atheism on the university campus. Over time, he began to...
An Ivy League Stoic’s Search for the Good & True – Leah Libresco’s Story
Former atheist Leah Libresco rejected religious belief until she encountered intelligent Christians at Yale University. Her search to find the grounding of objective...
Discovering the Meaning of Life – Stacy Gleiss’ Story
Former atheist Stacy Gleiss traveled across the world and explored worldviews and philosophies until she finally found what was true, good, and beautiful in Christianity....
“Confessions of a French Atheist” – Guillaume Bignon’s Story
Former atheist Guillaume Bignon set out on a quest to disprove Christianity and was surprised by what he found. Guillaume's Book: Confessions of a French Atheist: How God...
MIT Atheist Searches for Truth – Chris Lee’s Story
MIT graduate Chris Lee was raised to reject religious superstition and embrace science alone. His search beyond a purely naturalistic worldview led him to believe in God...
Looking for Answers – Kyle Keltz’s Story
Kyle's childhood faith disappeared when he began questioning Christianity, finding no answers. His inquisitive mind led him on a long journey to find the truth....
Anything but God – Adrienne Johnson’s Story
Former skeptic Adrienne Johnson embraced anything but God in her life until her drive to discover truth led her to belief. Resources Prager U, Stories of Us, Adrienne...
From Darkness to Light – Alex Blagojevic’s Story
Raised in a secular country, Alex embraced an atheist identity into adulthood when a surprising encounter with Jesus Christ dramatically changed his life. Alex's Website:...
Side B Stories Special Announcement
We are excited to share with you some special news about the podcast and a new phase of ministry for the newly named Side B Stories. Website www.sidebstories.com
Cold Case Detective Investigates God – Jim Warner Wallace’s Story
Former atheist Jim Warner Wallace embarked on a personal investigative journey and eventually became convinced of the reality of God and the truth of Christianity. J. Warner...
Scientist Examines the Evidence for God – Dawn Simon’s Story
University biology professor Dr. Dawn Simon dismissed belief in God until faced with convincing intellectual arguments from an informed Christian, Tim Stratton. Dawn's...
I Don’t Need God – Mark Meckler’s Story
A strong atheist until he was 51, Mark Meckler felt no need for God until the influence of his personal relationships paired with deep intellectual curiosity led him to...
The Problem of Meaninglessness – Peter Harris’ Story
A brilliant thinker, Dr. Peter Harris lost his childhood faith in God at university when intellectually challenged. After years of atheism, the problem of meaninglessness...
Questioning Everything, Finding Answers – Rick Allan’s Story
After skeptic Rick Allan was presented with Christianity and its effects on his family, he began to investigate the evidence for God and Christianity. Rick's website:...
Losing Faith and Finding Belief – Marie Wood’s Story
Former atheist Marie left her devoted childhood faith in the face of intellectual doubts but eventually found her way to an intellectually robust belief in God and...
Facing the Reality of Atheism – Jon Noyes’ Story
Former atheist Jon Noyes was driven to fully live out his life-long atheism, but his pursuit was challenged when he began to consider which worldview best fit with reality....
Finding God After Decades of Atheism – Justo Amato’s Story
Like his father, Justo Amato was a resolved atheist well into middle age yet he unexpectedly came to believe in God. Episode Transcript Hello, and thanks for joining in. I'm...
Achieved Success, but Looking for More – Sue Warnke’s Story
Former skeptic Sue Warnke wanted nothing to do with religion. Although she achieved business and personal success, something was still missing from her life. Her quest for...
Anti-theist Surprised by God – Jeff Dockman’s Story
Former atheist Jeff Dockman wanted nothing to do with religion. Over time, his presumptions about the world, and his place in it, ceased to make sense and he began to...
Conversion, Deconversion, Reconversion – Jim Thring’s Story
A Christian for 15 years, Jim rejected his faith and identified as an humanist-atheist for nine years. Although he could not see a possible return to God, he found a more...
Celebrating One Year of The Side B Podcast
Please celebrate our One Year Anniversary with us! With 27 episodes, more than 100,000 listens from around the world, and so much more to come, we are very grateful for your...
Questioning Life’s Questions – Jeremy Evans’ Story
Former skeptic Jeremy Evans comfortably presumed his atheism was true until a sobering event caused him to ask life's biggest questions. Dream Center Non-Profit:...
Ivy league Atheist Finds Christ – Rachel Gilson’s Story
Former skeptic Rachel embraced atheism until her intellectual curiosity regarding God's existence led her to Jesus. Learn more about Rachel and her book at...
Dismantling Caricatures, Building Informed Faith – Mike Bird’s Story
Former atheist Dr. Mike Bird tells his story of moving from a culturally-informed skepticism and caricatured Christianity to finding that perhaps his presumptions were...
Disproving Christianity, Finding Belief – Robert Kunda’s Story
We presume we are right and correct in our beliefs. But, sometimes we are challenged to consider why we believe what we do. In today's podcast, former atheist Robert Kunda...
Questioning Atheism After 9/11 – Brian Causey’s story
Stunned by events of 9/11, financial trader Brian Causey finds his beliefs about life after death lacking and sets off in a search for answers. Brian's book: Trading Gods -...
I Believe in Science – Bruce Blackshaw’s Story
Can the thinking person believe in God? In today's episode Bruce tells his story of moving from atheism as informed by science to a rational Christian faith that informs...
From Nihilism & Psychedelics to Faith – Ashley Lande’s Story
Former skeptic Ashley declared herself an atheist as a young woman. Dissatisfied with atheistic nihilism, she turned to psychedelics and mysticism in her search for...
In Search of Meaning – Erik Manning’s story
Believing that science provided better answers than religion, and faced with the problem of evil in the world, Erik viewed Christianity as just a pleasant myth. But after...
Investigator Searches for God – Rob Oram’s story
As an atheist, Rob Oram presumed God didn’t exist until unexpected circumstances caused him to reconsider. Trained as an investigator, he began to look at the question of...
Searching for Purpose – Matt Fincher’s Story
Matt endured a tragic accident that pushed him away from God. In the years that followed, his natural curiosity and search for purpose led him to reconsider the God of the...
Too Intelligent for God – Craig Northwood’s story
Former skeptic Craig thought he was too intelligent to believe in God, but after a series of sobering events, he was shocked to find himself affirming the truth of Christ....
Scientific Journey to God – Julie Hannah’s story
Former skeptic Julie Hannah takes an intellectual, scientific journey to discover answers to life's biggest questions and finds Christ. Julie's autobiographical book, A...
KGB Agent Finds God – Jack Barsky’s story
Raised in a godless communistic world, former KGB agent and undercover spy Jack Barsky found God when he was least expecting it. To learn more about Jack and his story,...
“Spiritual, Not Religious” Meets Jesus – Mary Poplin’s story
University professor Dr. Mary Poplin was "spiritual, not religious" and sampled many ideologies until a vivid dream made the Jesus of Christianity undeniable to her. Listen...
God Isn’t Relevant – Daniel Rodger’s story
Many people presume there is no God because that's all they've known. The question of God seemed irrelevant. In today's episode Daniel Rodger tells his story of moving from...
Jewish Atheist Meets Jesus – Nikki Naparst’s story
A Jewish atheist, Nikki wanted nothing to do with Jesus until an unexpected spiritual experience caused her to question all she believed as real and true. Follow The Side B...
From a Godless World – Stuart McAllister’s story
Former atheist Stuart moved from a world without God to one where God changed his whole world. Stuart's new book, Faith that Lasts: A Father and Son on Cultivating Lifelong...
Running from God – Ted Cabal’s story
We're all searching for something to satisfy us and sometimes that's hard to find. In today's episode, Dr. Ted Cabal's wandering journey led him the long way home to a...
Intellectual Journey Towards God – Philip Vander Elst’s story
There is often a presumption that religion is irrational, far from truth and reason. In today's episode, Philip Vander Elst describes his "journey of discovery" from atheism...
No Need for God – Warren Prehmus’ Story
Former atheist Warren Prehmus thought he had all that life had to offer until a turn of events sparked reconsideration of what might be missing. But, the answers were not...
Apatheism to Strong Belief – Mary Jo Sharp’s story
Apatheism is a word to describe someone who doesn't believe in God and thinks religion is irrelevant to life. In today's episode Mary Jo Sharp tells her story of moving from...
History Confirms Christianity – Frank Federico’s story
Many people think the stories in the bible are mere myth and legend. As a historian, so did Frank. In today's episode he talks about moving from a skeptical view of...
Following the Evidence – Peter Byrom’s story
We hold beliefs for many different reasons. In today's episode Peter talks highlights the combination of motivations he had for disbelief as well as belief in God. Episode...
Finding God at Oxford – Carolyn Weber’s story
In today's episode author and scholar Dr. Carolyn Weber tells her story of moving from a busy place of survival to a place of contemplation at Oxford University. There she...
Unanswered Prayer & Atheism – Brandon McConnell’s story
Many people reject God because of a heartbreaking event in their lives. In today's episode Brandon talks about not only what pushed him away from God, but also what drew...
Intellectual Atheism Challenged – Jordan Monge’s story
Raised to think critically, Jordan Monge began to question her own atheism at Harvard University when she was intellectually challenged to investigate the grounding of her...
Hatred Towards God, Softened by Love – Mike Arnold’s story
Former atheist Mike Arnold suffered an unspeakable childhood tragedy which suddenly catapulted him into atheism. After twenty years, he was given cause to reconsider not...