Alex O'Connor | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 O'Connor in 2018 aged 19 | ||||||||||
| Born | 27 March 1999 | |||||||||
| Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2013–present | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 1.61 million [1] | |||||||||
| Views | 314 million [1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 20 August 2025 | ||||||||||
| Website | www | |||||||||
Alex J. O'Connor (born 27 March 1999), also known as CosmicSkeptic, is an English public speaker, writer and social media personality, best known for his videos on religion, atheism and philosophy.
Alex O'Connor was born on 27 March 1999 [2] [3] and grew up in Blackbird Leys. [4]
He attended St John's College at the University of Oxford and graduated with a degree in philosophy and theology. [5] [6] [7]
O'Connor started his career by uploading videos on skateboarding to YouTube. [8] By age seventeen, he was making videos on his channel CosmicSkeptic commenting on philosophy, religion and political topics like the 2016 United States presidential election. [8] He started the Within Reason podcast (formerly called The Cosmic Skeptic Podcast) in 2019, in which he interviewed guests including Richard Dawkins, David Deutsch, Sam Harris, Carlo Rovelli, and Slavoj Žižek. [3] [5]
In October 2023, he interviewed conservative journalist and commentator Peter Hitchens about drug decriminalisation, secularism, and monarchy in the United Kingdom. Hitchens abruptly ended the interview and expressed his "active dislike" of O'Connor before leaving. [5] [7]
In January 2025, he was featured in an episode of Surrounded by Jubilee Media, where he debated 25 Christians on the existence of God and the veracity of the resurrection of Jesus. [3]
O'Connor identifies as an agnostic atheist; he is known for his critique of theistic belief systems and for his long-form conversations on the subject. [3] [5] [9]
He is against the monarchy of the United Kingdom. and has spoken publicly on the subject, including with Piers Morgan. [10]
O’Connor was formerly a vegan, but no longer adheres to veganism. [11] [12]
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