eX-skeptic
by Jana Harmon
eX-skeptic is a story-driven, conversational podcast that helps listeners understand why people dismiss or believe in God and Christianity. 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.www.exskeptic.org
Episodes
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Celebrating Six Years of eX-skeptic
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 deeply human journeys shaped by relationships, experiences, evidence, and a willingness to reconsider what was true. Six...
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From New Age Seeker to Encountering Jesus | Robert Hotchkin’s Story | Ep. 156
What if the reason you struggle to believe is because life has taught you not to trust? Dr. Jana Harmon sits down with Robert Hotchkin, a former skeptic and spiritual seeker, whose journey took him far beyond traditional religion. Raised in a loving but largely non-religious home, Robert…
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Almost Heretical – Deconstructing Christian Finds His Way Back – Nate Hanson’s Story | Ep. 155
For years, Nate Hanson was deeply committed to Christianity. Influenced by voices like Francis Chan and immersed in ministry, he devoted his life to radical discipleship and church planting. But after years of burnout, disappointment, and difficult questions, cracks began to appear in the faith…
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The Scientific Evidence He Couldn’t Ignore: Dr. Brian Miller’s Journey | Ep. 154
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 everything changed when he entered MIT and later pursued a PhD in physics at Duke University. Surrounded by a scientific culture that viewed God as unnecessary…
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He Cursed God then Encountered Him – Paul Snyder’s Story | Ep. 153
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 fear, family brokenness, rejection, and disappointment, he concluded that if God existed at all, He certainly wasn't good.…
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A Skeptical Christian – Shayla Perez’s Story | Ep. 151
🎙️ 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 that faith was simply part of her family tradition. But as she entered her teenage years, skepticism began to grow.…
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Taking Religion Seriously – Dr. Charles Murray’s Story | Ep. 150
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 unnecessary. He wasn't hostile to faith. He simply left it behind. But over time, questions he had never fully examined began…
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Looking for a Better Life – Ellie Long’s Story | Ep. 149
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 cope with life. Raised in a secular environment and embracing atheism at a young age, she wrestled with despair, depression,...
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Breaking the Cycle of Disbelief – Rich Robison’s Story | Ep. 148
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. Raised in a fractured home and moving 26 times before graduating high school, Rich eventually rejected God altogether. His anger...
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Rejecting God – Mark Haville’s Story | Ep. 147
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 foundation and little reason to believe God was real. Science, suffering, and life experience all seemed to point him away from...
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Life without God – Anh Le’s Story | Ep. 146
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 commitment and shaped by a worldview rooted in self-reliance, Anh believed meaning and fulfillment was something you created and...
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Life and Death – Jeremy Gronau’s Story | Ep. 145
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 trauma, loss, and a lifetime of trying to prove his worth. After growing up without a clear understanding of the gospel, Jeremy...
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Finding Freedom from Fear and Destruction – Dr. Lisa Stanton’s Story | Ep. 144
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 enviable—PhD, postdoctoral research at a leading medical school, and a rising career in behavioral health. But beneath the surface,...
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An Atheist Finds Truth – Luke Thornton’s Story | Ep. 143
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 implications led not to certainty, but to discomfort… and eventually, to an argument he couldn’t ignore. Luke Thornton grew up…
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A Skeptic Reconsiders God – Chris Wright’s Story (a/k/a Courageous Chris) | Ep. 142
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 belief. But as he moved into adolescence, competing ideas like evolutionary theory, cultural pressure, and hidden personal...
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A Curious Mind – Matt Schmidt’s Story | Ep. 140
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 inquisitive kid, Matt felt the weight of questions that no one around him could answer — questions about science, origins,...
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Finding Truth – Nancy Pearcey’s Story | Ep. 139
🎙️ 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, Nancy Pearcey walked away from Christianity. Disillusioned by shallow answers and a painful home life, she turned instead…
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Avoiding God – Erika Diaz-Castro’s story | Ep. 138
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 life—publicly religious but privately wrestling with doubt, shame, and the pull of self-fulfillment. Her story traces a winding...
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Leave Me Alone – Heather Sewell’s story | Ep. 137
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 from faith and searching for peace. Raised as a pastor’s daughter, Heather learned early how to wear masks and manage…
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Curious about God – Dr. Jim Small’s Story | Ep. 136
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 faith and felt no need for God. Science explained the world well enough. But through marriage, community, and simply showing...
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Researching God – Dr. Lee Holcombe’s Story | Ep. 135
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 Holcombe shares his remarkable journey from faith in childhood, through skepticism and intellectual dismissal of...
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Not Looking for God – Megan Carroll’s Story | Ep. 134
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 dismissed Christianity as something to accept “without evidence.” But when life unraveled—through illness, heartbreak, and...
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When Science Points to God – Olivier Bonnassies’s Story | Ep. 133
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 convinced that Christianity was irrational and that science explained everything, but he began to question his assumptions about...
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Finding Real Love – Heather Tomlinson’s Story | Ep. 132
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? British journalist Heather Tomlinson shares her remarkable journey from a secular liberal worldview to a life transformed by Jesus...
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Finding Life Through Death – Dr. Stephen Iacoboni’s Story | Ep. 131
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 these questions every day for more than forty years as a medical oncologist. Once a committed scientific atheist, he sought...
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Celebrating eX-skeptic’s 5 Year Anniversary!
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 eX-skeptic first launched (originally as Side B Stories). Scientists, philosophers, artists, and everyday people from around…
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Seeing Through Atheism – Caleb Ball’s (aka Aspiring Christian) Story | Ep. 130
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 small-town Pennsylvania, where childhood faith gave way to mocking Christianity and embracing naturalism. For six years, he lived as…
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The Long Way Back to God – Jason Holloway’s story | Ep. 129
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 answers. At 18, a conversation with a trusted professor left him believing he lacked “enough faith,” prompting him to walk…
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Doubting Naturalism – Dr. Michael Egnor’s story | Ep. 128
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 everything — including who we are. But over time, he encountered things science couldn’t explain: children thriving with…
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The Will to Believe – Dr. Molly Worthen’s Story | Ep. 127
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 it, and even lived alongside devout believers. But belief itself? That always felt just out of reach. In this conversation,...
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Looking for Meaning – Allison Leonhardt’s story | Ep. 126
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 unreliable, and morality explainable through modern thought and politics. With The God Delusion in hand, she challenged…
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Jewish Atheist Finds Jesus – Dr. David Shapiro’s Story | Ep. 125
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 evidence for Christ? David Shapiro shares his unlikely journey from strict tradition to sincere faith. Growing up in Queens, New...
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The Mystery of Reality – Dr. Trevor Lohman’s story | Ep. 124
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 and author of God’s Eye View. Raised with a nominal faith and drawn early into the promises of scientific progress, Trevor...
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Discovering Truth – Michael Lewis’s Story | Ep. 123
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 once mocked Christians, dismissed the Bible as nonsense and devoured documentaries that tore down belief in God. But when his...
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Reasoning Requires Faith – Jeffrey Geibel’s Story | Ep. 122
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 mathematics educator and former skeptic, shares a journey that challenges assumptions about belief, knowledge, and truth. Raised in a…
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An Honest Search for God – Dr. Jay Medenwaldt’s Story | Ep. 121
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 to belief. A social psychologist with a PhD from Baylor and a current professor at Northwestern College, Jay approached...
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Is There Something More? – Laura Zee’s story | Ep. 120
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 beneath the surface, something was missing. The more she achieved, the emptier she felt. And when a health crisis brought...
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Leaving Deception Behind – Vince Revo’s Story | Ep. 118
“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 after encountering religious hypocrisy, unanswered questions, and deep personal pain. Raised amid church culture but overwhelmed by...
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Believing is Seeing, A Scientist’s Journey to God – Dr. Michael Guillen’s Story | Ep. 117
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 once-devout atheist—shares his unexpected journey from scientific certainty to Christian faith. With three PhDs in physics,...
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Resisting God – Dr. John W. Taylor’s Story | Ep. 116
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 the Methodist church but found himself increasingly at odds with its teachings. As a teenager, he embraced atheism, fueled…
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Living in Wonder – Rod Dreher’s Story | Ep. 115
After transitioning from cultural Christianity to agnosticism, author Rod Dreher experienced profound encounters with the divine that reshaped his spiritual journey. In this episode, Rod shares pivotal moments that reignited his sense of wonder and enchantment, despite facing disillusionment and...
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From Addiction to Freedom – Bill Scott’s Story | Ep. 114
Raised in a politically charged, largely non-religious household in Kentucky, Bill found himself embracing atheism through his teenage years, driven by hedonistic pursuits and a disdain for religious beliefs. His life appeared to follow a promising path in political activism until it spiraled…
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Truth Seeker – Dr. Larry Sanger’s Story | Ep. 113
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 environment, Larry’s journey evolved from childhood faith to agnosticism, fueled by his dedication to reason, evidence, and...
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Doubting after Faith – Dr. Bobby Conway’s Story | Ep. 112
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 existence and morality. Despite being academically inclined and climbing the ladder of theological education, he faced severe…
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Finding God through Science – Dr. Michael Houts’ Story | Ep. 111
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 shares his journey of growing up outside the church with a strong belief in science, questioning the limitations of naturalistic...
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From Anti-Christian to Pastor – Brian Smith’s Story | Ep. 110
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 beliefs as a way to escape the fear of death. In high school, he became an atheist but befriended a popular group of…
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Faith and Reason – Henare Whaanga’s Story | Ep. 109
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 took Henare with him to preach the Gospel. However, Henare became frustrated with the evangelical church's emphasis on…
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About this show
eX-skeptic is a story-driven, conversational podcast that helps listeners understand why people dismiss or believe in God and Christianity. 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.www.exskeptic.org
Hosted by
Jana Harmon
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