A Million Little Gods is a show about being of two—or more—minds about things and being okay with that.
A Million Little Gods premiered in 2015, and though it‘s changed over time, it has had one consistent guiding principle: you’re better off embracing uncertainty—not because things are unknowable, but because things that are true are often also mutually contradictory. The Romantic poet John Keats thought embracing uncertainty, which he called the “negative capability,” was ennobling. He believed, however, you should do it “without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.” We’re more inclined to follow Kant and lean into fact and reason until we find the true antinomies.
In October 2018, A Million Little Gods relaunched with co-host Ben Feddersen and student producers from the English and American Studies department of the University of Hamburg, Germany. Starting in 2022, Ben is stepping down from regular co-hosting duties to pursue a career evangelizing solid-state batteries for a better future. But he’ll still pop in now and then. Meanwhile, Aaron is expanding the podcast with a Substack called A Million Little Thoughts, a commonplace journal of ideas that eventually find their way into the podcast.
Subscribe now to A Million Little Thoughts on Substack for more material, including audio you won’t get anywhere else. And subscribe to the podcast for new episodes.
Latest Episode
Book TWO - RACE: IS THAT A THING?, Volume 2
Book Two - Race: Is That A THing?, Volume 1
Book One - What is a Self?
Team
Aaron Gowen
Aaron is the creator, producer, and co-host of A Million Little Gods. He is a lecturer in English Language Practice at the University of Hamburg. In past lives he has been a textbook editor, a teacher, and a translator. He is also a proud father and fastidious separator of trash, recyclables, and compost, which in Germany makes him completely unexceptional.
Ben Feddersen
Ben is producer and co-host of A Million Little Gods. He has been a lecturer in the English language at the University of Hamburg since 2017. He was previously at the University of Passau for two years. He earned his B.A. in philosophy from Indiana University and his M.A. in political science from George Mason University in 2013, before deciding to pursue a career teaching a subject that students are actually interested in.
Subscribe to A Million Little Thoughts
What the what?
I created A Million Little Gods with the vision of marrying the intellectual rigor of the work I know in academia with the sound-rich, conversational, emotionally engaging tropes of my favorite podcasts. I think my colleagues and I have succeeded at the latter, but at the former we could do better.
That’s where this thing comes in.
Yes, A Million Little Thoughts is a Substack, but I’ve taken to calling it a commonplace book. As I go through the process of researching, compiling sources and ideas, annotating those sources, and reaching out to interviewees, you can follow along. That work might bear fruit and become part of the podcast. Other things might turn out to be what Plato called “wind-eggs.” Sometimes the writing here will be an end in itself.
Peek inside—and help keep the lights on!
Become a paid subscriber and get access to a wealth of extra material—including audio you won’t get anywhere else. Of course, if you’d like to make a one-time donation via PayPal, we’d like that, too. Any help we can get is deeply appreciated.
I’m coyly leaving the commonplace book out where you can find it, and hoping you’ll like what you read and feel edified. Maybe it will add more depth to your enjoyment of the podcast. Who knows? I hope you read it.
– Aaron
CONTACT
If you've got some thoughts or questions about on the podcast, fill out the form or send an email to gowen@amillionlittlegods.com. Also accolades. You should definitely write in with accolades. They make us feel nice. Critiques aren't as fun to get, but you can send us those as well.
If you've noticed a mistake either on the show or on this website, first breathe in slowly through your nose, then exhale through pursed lips. Okay. Now write.
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