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.
https://youtu.be/MnKulbKtrao What happens when the worldview you embraced no longer seems capable of explaining the world you experience? For Stuart Tettemer, atheism wasn't...
What would it take for an atheist to become a Christian? Thirteen years ago, that question led Jana Harmon to study the lives of 50 former atheists. What she discovered were...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na4dnU3O2hY What if the reason you struggle to believe is because life has taught you not to trust? Dr. Jana Harmon sits down with Robert...
https://youtu.be/I71rP-vhOTQ For years, Nate Hanson was deeply committed to Christianity. Influenced by voices like Francis Chan and immersed in ministry, he devoted his...
https://youtu.be/Mdp1YznvZ5s What happens when the scientific story you're given seems to leave no room for God? Dr. Brian Miller grew up with a belief in God, but...
What happens when suffering shapes your picture of God? For Paul Snyder, the God he rejected as a young boy seemed harsh, distant, and impossible to please. Growing up amid...
What happens when your search for truth leads beyond philosophy and into the unexpected? Mark Schneider is a former skeptic whose life...
🎙️ Love the show? Support the mission and explore eX-skeptic merch here: https://ex-skeptic-shop.fourthwall.com/ Growing up in a deeply Christian home, Shayla Perez assumed...
For decades, Charles Murray assumed what many educated people quietly assume - that religion belonged to an earlier age and that science had rendered belief in God...
Is Christianity true because it works, or does it work because it's true? For years, Ellie Long was convinced that Christianity was nothing more than a story people used to...
What happens when anger, disappointment, and painful family experiences shape your understanding of God? For Rich Robison, faith wasn't something he was searching for....
What would cause someone with both emotional and intellectual reasons to reject God to reconsider? Mark Haville grew up in the UK in an abusive home with no religious...
What does it cost to build a life without God? For Anh Le, it meant carrying everything - his identity, purpose, success, and morality, alone. Raised without religious...
What if the biggest barrier between you and God are the quiet lies you’ve believed about Him your entire life? Jeremy Gronau carried those lies for years, formed through...
What if being brilliant, successful, and disciplined still isn’t enough to save you from fear, obsession, and self-destruction? From the outside, Lisa’s life looked...
What happens when atheism is taken seriously all the way to its logical conclusions? For Luke Thornton, raised in a deeply secular culture in the UK, honesty about those...
What if the worldview you trusted most began to crumble under its own weight?Chris Wright grew up in a deeply Christian home, surrounded by Scripture, church life, and...
🎙️ Love the show? Support the mission and explore eX-skeptic merch here: https://ex-skeptic-shop.fourthwall.com/ What if denying...
What if the questions that once pulled you away from faith could be the very questions that lead you back? That’s exactly what happened to Matt Schmidt. As a naturally...
🎙️ Love the show? Support the mission and explore eX-skeptic merch here: https://ex-skeptic-shop.fourthwall.com/ Before she became one of today’s leading Christian thinkers,...
What happens when faith feels like pretending, and you can’t live with the disconnect anymore? Erika Diaz-Castro, a wife, mom, and Bible teacher who once lived a double...
Have you ever tried to find peace by walking away from God or from the judgment and expectations that once made faith feel heavy? Heather Sewell shares her story of running...
What if you’re content with life, confident in science, and still quietly curious? Dr. Jim Small, MD, PhD, pathologist, professor, and lifelong scientist was raised without...
What happens when a brilliant researcher, once convinced God was nothing more than a cultural artifact, decides to take a second look? In this episode of eX-skeptic, Dr. Lee...
What if faith isn’t blind, but freeing? For much of her life, Megan Carroll believed she didn’t need God. A self-reliant achiever who valued reason and control, she...
What if belief in God isn’t opposed to reason, but demanded by it? Olivier Bonnassies, co-author of God, the Science, the Evidence: The Dawn of a Revolution, was once...
Where do we find real love, the kind that fills our souls and heals our brokenness? Is it through politics, psychology, or self-help? Or is it found in a Person? ...
Few questions weigh heavier on the human heart than death. Is there anything beyond this life? How do we face death without fear? Dr. Stephen Iacoboni has wrestled with...
Over more than 130 episodes, we’ve listened to former atheists and skeptics share how they came to believe in Jesus Christ. This week marks a milestone: five years since...
What happens when the “certainty” of atheism collides with evidence pointing to something more? Caleb Ball’s (YouTube’s Aspiring Christian Channel) story begins in...
Jason Holloway grew up in a small, conservative church where faith seemed simple—until his honest questions about suffering, contradictions, and the Bible met unsatisfying...
Dr. Michael Egnor spent decades trusting science to answer life’s deepest questions. As a neurosurgeon and professor, he believed the brain held the key to understanding...
Molly Worthen is an academic, a historian of religion, a Yale-educated professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, and was an agnostic for decades. She studied Christianity, wrote about...
Can reason, morality, and public good stand without God? Allison Leonhardt once thought so. An atheist from her teens, she was convinced religion was outdated, the Bible...
What would lead a Jewish man, raised in an Orthodox home, who didn’t even know who Jesus was, to become a Christian pastor, podcast host, and author of a book on the...
What happens when a neuroscientist trained in rationalism begins to question the very worldview that shaped his career? Trevor Lohman is a clinical neuroscience researcher...
What happens when a horror filmmaker, once a staunch atheist, sets out to disprove Christianity, only to be convinced by the evidence? Michael Ray Lewis, a filmmaker who...
What happens when the pursuit of intellectual certainty leads not to clarity, but to doubt, and doubt, in time, leads back to faith? Jeffrey Geibel, a seasoned...
Show Notes: Why do people believe in God, or reject Him altogether? In this compelling episode, Dr. Jay Medenwaldt shares his intellectual and spiritual journey from atheism...
Laura Zee seemed to be doing everything right. A top-tier student and Division I athlete at Duke University, she was driven, disciplined, and outwardly successful. But...
Dr. Tom Rudelius is a theoretical physicist whose research spans string theory, cosmology, and quantum field theory. With degrees from both Cornell and Harvard, and faculty...
“If there is a God… I’ll follow. I’ll serve. I’ll give my life to you.” Vince Revo is a former atheist who, like many, walked away from the faith of his childhood...
Can science and faith truly coexist? In this compelling episode of eXskeptic, Dr. Michael Guillen—Harvard physicist, former ABC News science editor, bestselling author, and...
Dr. John Taylor, a former atheist, once ardently dismissed the very concept of God, fearing it would cost him his autonomy. Growing up, John was exposed to the traditions of...
After transitioning from cultural Christianity to agnosticism, author Rod Dreher experienced profound encounters with the divine that reshaped his spiritual journey. In this...
Raised in a politically charged, largely non-religious household in Kentucky, Bill found himself embracing atheism through his teenage years, driven by hedonistic pursuits...
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, esteemed philosopher, and passionate advocate for truth-seeking. Raised in a religious...
Dr. Bobby Conway shares with us as he talks about his tumultuous path, describing his former lifestyle marked by addiction, self-doubt, and relentless questions about...
Dr. Michael Houts is an esteemed scientist with a rich background in mechanical and nuclear engineering and advanced propulsion systems for space exploration. Dr. Houts...
Brian grew up in a small Georgia town where religion wasn’t part of his upbringing, though he was surrounded by churches. Angry at the concept of God, he viewed religious...
Former skeptic Henare Whaanga grew up with an ex-gang member father and a mother who was an ex-Jehovah's Witness. His father supernaturally encountered God in prison, and he...
Former atheist Spencer grew up in an abusive home, and while his mother took him to church, it felt more like a manipulative act than genuine faith. Witnessing the hypocrisy...
Kathleen grew up in a loving, immigrant household where religion wasn't a central part of her upbringing but was raised with a strong emphasis on good morals and values. In...
Growing up in a small town, religion was a constant yet subtle presence in Trevor Lancon’s community. Deeply involved in his church’s youth group, Trevor longed to grow...
During childhood, David Westerhoff’s faith never really extended outside of the church building. The tradition and practice of Christianity just didn’t make sense to David,...
Former atheist and Swedish physicist Krister Renard dismissed God at a young age, believing science was the key to understanding reality. In his pursuit of knowledge,...
Former atheist Dr. John Studebaker viewed religion as boring and inconsequential until he encountered surprising evidence about God and meaningful experiences with...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
"So, God, He takes the things you think will mark your life with shame, and he uses them to mark your life with His glory." Steven McWhirter. Former atheist Stephen...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
Archeologist, world traveler, and former skeptic Dr. Josephine Thomas once thought all religions were fictional stories until she finally encountered the 'true myth' of...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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:...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
Former atheist Leah Libresco rejected religious belief until she encountered intelligent Christians at Yale University. Her search to find the grounding of objective...
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....
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 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...
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....
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...
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:...
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
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...
University biology professor Dr. Dawn Simon dismissed belief in God until faced with convincing intellectual arguments from an informed Christian, Tim Stratton. Dawn's...
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...
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...
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:...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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:...
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...
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...
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...
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 -...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...