Daniel Genis (rhymes with “tennis”) grew up in New York City, where he attended Stuyvesant High School and New York University, graduating with a degree in history and French. In 2003, however, he committed five armed robberies, which led to a decade behind bars. During that time, he wrote a novel called Narcotica. Now that he’s out, he’s been writing about the intersection of religion and incarceration for publications like Vice, Deadspin, the Washington Post. New York Daily News, and Newsweek.

We spoke with Daniel about the soul exchange that got him in trouble, why we should feel any sympathy for him, and what he hopes to do now that he’s a free man.

(Image credit: Petra Szabo)

Ross Blocher is the co-host of the Oh No, Ross and Carrie! podcast, in which the hosts don’t simply talk about the paranormal, but “dive right in by joining religions, attending spiritual events, undergoing “alternative” treatments, partaking in paranormal investigations, and more.”

Jessica caught up with him during a recent trip to Los Angeles and they spoke about how the podcast began, along with some of his favorite investigations.

Peter Boghossian is a philosophy professor at Portland State University and the author of A Manual for Creating Atheists, a book in which he talks about “street epistemology” — essentially how to talk people out of their faith. He’s currently working on a phone app that’ll guide people through that process.

We spoke with Peter about why his approach isn’t just “atheist evangelism,” why smart people can believe silly things, and whether his techniques work on his own children in other areas of life.

You can see his upcoming speaking engagements here.

Linda LaScola is a research consultant perhaps best known for her work with philosopher Daniel Dennett in which they speak with pastors who may secretly be atheists. (You can read that paper here.)

She co-founded the Clergy Project — a site for religious leaders harboring serious doubts about their faith — and she is about to re-release her book on the topic, Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind, with updates and additions. She also blogs on Patheos at Rational Doubt, a site that features several articles by doubting pastors.

We spoke with LaScola about how the Clergy Project began, whether coming out as an atheist (when you’re a pastor) is a good or bad idea, and the surprising book that finally turned one pastor into an atheist.