Alex O'Connor: re-enchanting... atheism

Belle and Justin talk to Alex about atheism, culture's tides and what it would take for him to believe.

Belle Tindall

Belle is the staff writer at Seen & Unseen.

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About this episode

Alex O'Connor is a well known atheist YouTube and podcast host with over 800,000 subscribers to his channel. Unlike many online new atheists he has sought to genuinely understand his Christian and religious counterparts. This included studying theology at Oxford University, helping to re-establish a Socratic debating society in the mould of the one created by CS Lewis, and counting many Christians as his friends and acquaintances. Belle and Justin talk to Alex about atheism, the changing tides of culture and what it would take for Alex to believe…

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Re-enchanting

2 April 2025

1 min read

Esther Maria Magnis: re-enchanting suffering

A raw account of the beauty of life and the ugliness of death.

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

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Esther Maria Magnis is a German writer whose book With or Without Me is a memoir of her journey with faith and the perception of reality.

With unflinching honesty Esther takes us through her childhood and adolescence as she, along with her brother and sister, deals with the grief of her father’s cancer diagnosis, her prayers, and her journey through the loss of faith, into materialism, self-deconstruction and finally the turn back to the idea of God.

Justin and Belle talk to Esther about her raw account of coming to terms with faith through the beauty of life, the ugliness of death, and even the apparent silence of God.

With or With Out Me is published by Plough.

With or With Out Me