eX-skeptic

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 answers in medicine, science, and humanism—only to find them insufficient in the face of mortality. Through the witness of his patients and...

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 the world have opened their lives to show how the search for truth and meaning led them home to God. 

Host Jana Harmon reflects on the jo...

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 a convinced atheist, creating YouTube content ridiculing God, convinced that science had all the answers. But one book, on quantum phys...

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 away from Christianity for the next 25 years.

In that time, Jason explored atheism, agnosticism, Buddhism, and nearly every “ism” he coul...

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 missing brain structures, moral truths that couldn’t be reduced to biology, and a growing sense that materialism had serious gaps.

Dr. Egnor ...

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, Molly shares how God gently disrupted her intellectual framework, used unexpected relationships (including Pastor J.D. Greear), and led her...

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 religious teachers and built her worldview around science, social justice, and self-made meaning.

But when the pandemic forced her into iso...

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 York, David was immersed in Jewish customs, Hebrew school, and temple life. But over time, he began to question the rituals and drift fro...

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 embraced atheism with confidence. For years, he believed that science held all the answers—until he realized how many of those answers re...

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 wife unexpectedly felt called back to Christ, Michael set out to prove her wrong, and instead, found himself confronted by something he ...

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 home where chaos, cultural Christianity, and moral contradictions shaped his early view of faith, Jeff set out to find truth through...

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 religion from a purely academic lens, interested in why people believed in things he once viewed as clearly false.

But, in an effort to...

Laura Zifer Powell 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 everything to a halt, the questions she had avoided for years finally caught up with her: What is all this for? What’s the point of bein...

 “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 contradictions, Vince found atheism to be a more rational, liberating path, at least at first. But what began as a rejection of bli...

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, mathematics, and astronomy from Cornell, Dr. Guillen lived and breathed science, dismissing religion as irrelevant and unscientific.

Bu...

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 by skepticism towards religion and a belief that Christianity lacked intellectual rigor. He relished debates with Christians, eager to cha...

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 crises within the church. His quest for spiritual depth led him down unexpected paths, ultimately deepening his awe and connection with Go...

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 into drug addiction and legal troubles, culminating in a transformative 17-day stint in jail.

Guest Bio:

Bill Scott serves with ded...