ExcommuniDate: Life & Love After Religion
ExcommuniDate
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About This Podcast
You left the faith. The baggage stayed.
Ex-Mormon Jessa and former Presbyterian Austin get real about dating after religion: purity culture damage, mismatched values, and building relationships on your own terms. Honest, hilarious, and judgment-free.
For the deconstructed, the questioning, and anyone dating outside the lines they were raised in.
New episodes every two weeks.
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Recent Episodes
S1E24 24. 2025 Recap: Lessons, Fails, and What's Next
In this year-end recap episode, hosts Austin, Jessa, and producer Miguel pull back the curtain on their first year of podcasting. They share technical disasters (internet outages, mic mishaps,…
S1E23 23. Bible PTSD, Chaos Magic & The Funniest Faith Crisis You’ve Ever Heard
Jack Violently joins Jessa, Austin, and Miguel to share his story of growing up evangelical, slowly losing faith, and figuring out who he is without religion’s script. He opens up about church…
S1E23 23. The Ick Index: Scoring Red Flags
In this play-along episode, we put modern dating under a microscope. Hosts Austin, Jessa, and guest Laz share their biggest dating gripes, then score them as icks or red flags from 1 to 5. Topics…
S1E22 22. Raised for the Rapture
What happens when you're raised to believe the world is always ending? Violinist Amber Dobbs unpacks her childhood in The Message, a Pentecostal cult led by prophet William Branham. From apocalyptic…
S1E21 21. From Faith to Fiction: A Story of Love, Horror and Deconstruction
What happens when the faith you’ve built your life around becomes the very thing that breaks it apart? In this episode, Jessa and Austin sit down with Rip and Steph Graven to explore their journey…
S1E20 20. Sinners vs. Saints | Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Episode 3 Recap
The MomTok divide crystallizes when Jen and Zach uninvite Jesse, Demi, Layla, and Taylor from their baby blessing, separating the "good Mormons" from everyone else. Whitney's poor taste fruity…
S1E18 19. Blindly Following to Love is Blind: Amber Wilder's Journey
Love is Blind's Amber Wilder opens up about her journey from homeschool and high-control Southern Baptist upbringing to religious deconstruction and finding love after leaving faith. We trace her…
S1E18 18. My Mom, My Hero, My Exit from Faith
Who is Miguel? We finally sit down with the man behind the chair. Miguel shares his story of growing up in a deeply religious Protestant household in Puerto Rico, the betrayal that shattered his…
S1E17 17. When the Bible Belt Gets Too Tight: Leaving the Southern Baptist Church
What happens when church rules and family expectations squeeze too tight? You either suffocate—or break free. In this episode, Austin Schoen (aka the cooler, younger Austin, now with Bluetooth)…
S1E16 16. Book of Mormon Says No Orgasms!? | Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Episode 2 Recap
Drama, guilt, and vibrators… oh my! In this Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Episode 2 recap, Jessa and Austin spill the Utah tea on Taylor’s post-arrest pregnancy, toxic relationships, and a brewing…
S1E15 15. Losing Religion, Finding Purpose: A Veteran’s Deconstruction Story
Marine vet Lazaro Facio shares his journey from Catholicism to atheism, exploring morality, family, and life after leaving religion. We sit down with Lazaro Facio who is a Marine Corps veteran, proud…
S1E14 14. They all Look the Same | Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Episode 1 Recap
Austin and Jessa dive headfirst into the world of reality TV, starting with Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, where the scandals are messy and the friendships are paper-thin. We break down the Taylor…
S1E13 13. The Illusion of Free Will: Choice Manipulation and Its Consequences
Do we truly have free will, or are our choices carefully shaped by the systems around us? Austin and Jessa unpack how high demand religions manipulate choice, creating the illusion of agency. They…
S1E12 12. Utah, But Secular... Culturally Mormon?
Jessa grew up Mormon in Utah. Nikki grew up not Mormon in Utah. Austin didn’t grow up in Utah at all. Together, they unpack what it means to come of age in a place steeped in LDS culture. From…
S1E11 11. Red Flag Showdown: Dealbreakers Debated & Rated
Jessa and Austin go head-to-head in a red flag showdown, sharing and scoring each others red flags by their level of red flagginess. From phone addiction and food snobbery to plastic surgery takes…
S1E10 10. The Hidden Struggles of a Jehovah's Witness Pioneer
A former Jehovah’s Witness pioneer joins us to share her story of leaving the faith. She opens up about the exhausting demands of life as a pioneer, the emotional cost of door-to-door evangelism, and…
S1E9 9. Hindu Culture, Caste, and Interfaith Marriage
Leave your shoes – and sanctity – at the door and join us for this conversation with Vishakha (Vi), who grew up in India and moved to the United States at age 19. Raised in Hindu traditions, she…
S1E8 8. From Catholic Roots to Personal Truth: Navigating Family and Faith
How can you show up in your family relationships when you’re not able to express your truest self? That’s exactly the question we explore in this episode. We’re joined by Bianca, who opted out of…
S1E7 7. From Purity to Power: Breaking Free from Christian Shame
On this episode, Melissa Frey joins the show to share her firsthand experience with the Christian church and its chase for chastity, especially in young women. She talks about the overwhelming guilt…
S1E6 6. Grief, Queer Identity, and Art Therapy ft. Caitlin Torres Graham
Caitlin Torres Graham regularly works with people who are grieving, whether that’s coming out, loss, death or, you guessed it, leaving a high-demand religion. As a trauma-informed art therapist,…
Frequently Asked Questions
ExcommuniDate: Life & Love After Religion has published 27 episodes since December 2024, covering topics in Health & Fitness, Mental Health.
ExcommuniDate: Life & Love After Religion is currently declining with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 54m.
