William Lobdell, 49, is an award-winning journalist, author, blogger, speaker, and college lecturer.

He worked for 17 years for the Los Angeles Times and its sister newspapers, including eight years as a religion writer for The Times. He won several national awards while on the faith beat, and the OC Weekly called Lobdell "one of the best religion reporters ever to grace American newspapers."

In 2009, HarperCollins published his critically acclaimed memoir, "Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America -- and Found Unexpected Peace." The New York Times wrote the book "feels powerfully fresh ... his humane, even-tempered book does more to advance the cause of irreligion than the bilious atheist tracts by Christopher Hitchens and others. And Lobdell's self-deprecating memoir is far more fun to read."

He currently is the editor of iBusiness Reporting, which does investigative stories on public companies along with uncovering private fraud schemes. He is a regular guess on National Public Radio, and he has been a visiting faculty member for 13 years at the UC Irvine.

Lobdell has four sons and competes in the sport of triathlon, twice completing an Ironman race.