American Gods: A Novel Cover
Podcast Mentions

American Gods A Novel

Neil Gaiman

From #1 Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a stranger offers him a job and Shadow, with nothing to lose, accepts. But a storm is coming. Beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a war is being fought – and the prize is the very soul of Ame...

Podcasts 7
Quotes 24
Stuff You Should Know

It was mentioned in passing, with a character named Zurnbog drawing strength from the Bender family's victims. It was suggested that this was a neat take on the story.

"

I've never read American Gods, the Neil Gaiman book.

— Episode: The Tale of the Bloody Benders

Episode: The Tale of the Bloody Benders

It was mentioned in passing, with a character named Zurnbog drawing strength from the Bender family's victims. It was suggested that this was a neat take on the story.

"

I've never read American Gods, the Neil Gaiman book.

So I'm surprised I've never read his novels, but in American Gods, um, one of the characters is a Slavic God named Zurnbog.

And every time the benders killed somebody, he gained strength from their sacrifice, which is pretty neat little take on the whole thing, you know?

Episode: The Tale of the Bloody Benders

It was mentioned in passing as containing a character, Zurnbog, who gained strength from the Benders' victims. The speaker had not read it himself.

"

Supposedly also, um, I've never read American Gods, the Neil Gaiman book. Have you, have you read any of this stuff? Never have. I've read some of the short stories and they're amazing. So I'm surprised I've never read his novels, but in American Gods, um, one of the characters is a Slavic God named Zurnbog. That's what I'm going with. And every time the benders killed somebody, he gained strength from their sacrifice, which is pretty neat little take on the whole thing, you know?

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

It was said that Georgia Hardstark was listening to the audiobook as a nice distraction, describing it as almost like a dark fairy tale.

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I am listening to the audio book for American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I've listened to before. And I just it's such a nice distraction. It's like a fairy tale. It's like a dark fairy tale almost. I...

— Episode: 261 - What's Cookin'?

Episode: 261 - What's Cookin'?

It was said that Georgia Hardstark was listening to the audiobook as a nice distraction, describing it as almost like a dark fairy tale.

"

I am listening to the audio book for American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I've listened to before. And I just it's such a nice distraction. It's like a fairy tale. It's like a dark fairy tale almost. I highly recommend it.

Episode: Rewind with Karen & Georgia - 68: Q&T&A

They referenced the novel while discussing a series that might involve serial killers meeting at a motel.

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American Gods. Yes. It's called American fucking.

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

He mentioned loving the book "American Gods," noting it had been adapted into a TV series.

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I love uh I love the movie uh well not the movie the book American Gods it became a TV show.

— Episode: Charlemagne tha God: A Women Molested Me...

Episode: Charlemagne tha God: A Women Molested Me As A Kid!...

He mentioned loving the book "American Gods," noting it had been adapted into a TV series.

"

I love uh I love the movie uh well not the movie the book American Gods it became a TV show.

The Moth

Podcast

The Moth

This novel was cited as one of Neil Gaiman's award-winning, New York Times bestselling books.

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Neil Gaiman is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of novels such as Neverwhere, American Gods and Coraline,

— Episode: 25 Years of Stories: Storytelling with N...

Episode: 25 Years of Stories: Storytelling with Neil Gaiman

This novel was cited as one of Neil Gaiman's award-winning, New York Times bestselling books.

"

Neil Gaiman is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of novels such as Neverwhere, American Gods and Coraline,

The Breakfast Club

The book was about the modern age, with technology playing a huge role. It was described as a great series on Starz.

"

Okay, how many of y'all have read American Gods by Neil Gaiman?

— Episode: FULL SHOW: Cassie Breaks Her Silence Aft...

Episode: FULL SHOW: Cassie Breaks Her Silence After Diddy H...

The book was about the modern age, with technology playing a huge role. It was described as a great series on Starz.

"

Okay, how many of y'all have read American Gods by Neil Gaiman?

Okay, it became a great series on Starz too, but there was a new God on there called Internet Boy, Technical Boy.

He represented all things technology and there is no doubt in my mind that in this new era, whatever Technical Boy represented, he is in absolute control. It's not even close.

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know

The hosts repeatedly highlighted the book as a creative example of mythological storytelling, noting how it personified folklore and linked secret deities to modern conspiracies. Noel, Matt, and Ben all praised its concept and the quality of its TV adaptation, using it to illustrate ideas like belief‑driven entities and common tropes such as the men in black. Overall, the discussion conveyed strong admiration for the title.

Highly Recommended

Episode: Actual Trolls: Not the Ones Online

The podcast mentioned "American Gods" as a book that explores the narrative of European folklore being brought to the Americas. It was mentioned in passing as an example of the concept, rather than as a book that directly discusses the concept of trolls.

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That's a big part of the narrative American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Episode: The Gang Explores The Reptilian Conspiracy

The book 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman has a similar concept to the reptilian conspiracy because it's about the gods living on Earth, secretly affecting the outcome of civilization.

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It just occurred to me that the Neil Gaiman book, American Gods has something in common with some of these thoughts because the gods are on Earth affecting the outcome of civilization quietly and secretly.

Episode: How To Build An Urban Legend

It was praised for its creativity and how it personified and turned African myths into superhero-like characters, as an example of Neil Gaiman's work with mythology.

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I love what Neil Gaiman does with myth and, you know, with American gods, for example, or a Nancy boy is where he takes kind of the African myths of like the spider god and all of that stuff and personifies them and turns them into kind of superhero type characters.

Episode: CLASSIC: The Search For Bigfoot

The TV series and book were brought up during a discussion about Bigfoot's existence possibly being dependent on people's belief in it, referencing the series' theme of gods existing solely through belief.

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Have you ever heard of a book or TV series called American Gods? Because the three of us have been watching the series.

And you never heard of this? No. Okay, it's fantastic. Neil Gaiman?

He's an author and it's in this story, one of the concepts that's central to the plot and the theme is that gods exist.

But they really do exist because people believe in them.

And I wonder if Bigfoot in some way is like this. Because we believe, because you know, some people believe it is truly a thing.

Episode: CLASSIC: What is red mercury?

It was described as an awesome book with a great show adaptation, and the show was considered better than expected.

"

Also that's an awesome book before we move on.

Episode: The True Story of the Men in Black

It was mentioned as an example of a book that features men in black, suggesting that the concept is a common trope in fiction.

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That's not a spoiler, but it just it feels reasonable, right?

Episode: The True Story of the Men in Black

It was mentioned as an example of a book where the 'men in black' trope appears, implying its common usage within popular culture.

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That's not a spoiler, but it just it feels reasonable, right?

Episode: CLASSIC: What is red mercury?

It was described as an awesome book, and the accompanying TV show was turning out better than expected.

"

Also that's an awesome book before we move on.

Episode: The True Story of the Men in Black

It was mentioned as an example of a book featuring the 'men in black' trope, suggesting that the concept is a common element in fiction.

"

That's not a spoiler, but it just it feels reasonable, right?

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.