00:00 This episode is dedicated to the World Cup of Gods, a Twitter poll tournament featuring ancient gods that are no longer worshipped, with the goal of avoiding needless offense and including only defunct gods.

04:54 The gods in the World Cup of Gods tournament have been incorporated into each other and ultimately flow into the invaders that destroyed them, with Moloch and Bridget being controversial participants in the last 16.

09:51 Child sacrifice was practiced by the people of Phoenicia, as evidenced by historical accounts and archaeological findings, including a creepy illustration of a baby being offered to a two-headed monster in a Punic cemetery, which may explain why the god Moloch was knocked out of the World Cup of Gods tournament.

14:45 The Aztecs believed that offering blood to the gods was necessary to prevent darkness from threatening the world, a belief that is common across many ancient religions and even present in Christianity.

19:22 Ishtar is a goddess of love and war, and her worship in ancient Mesopotamia was associated with eroticism, cross-dressing, and the suspension of traditional rules and boundaries.

24:09 Ishtar's worship may have faded away in the Christian and Muslim periods, but there are scholars who believe that there are still living elements associated with her brother Shamash in northern Iraq, suggesting a possible link to Ishtar; meanwhile, Bridget is a controversial choice as a god because she is often seen as a saint, but there is evidence to suggest that she may have originally been a goddess before becoming a saint in the Irish tradition.

29:09 Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome, became deified after his death and his cult spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire, challenging the traditional separation between mortal and immortal.

33:40 The deification of Augustus Caesar in ancient Rome reveals a complex relationship between mortal and immortal, involving authority, tradition, and gratitude, and it is not surprising that the deification of Jesus, a mortal and a slave, was shocking.

38:07 Kibbley, a Phrygian god in Anatolia, is an ancient mother goddess who has been worshiped longer than any other deity, including Jesus.

42:41 Kibbley, a mother goddess, is associated with strange and unique stories, including one where she cuts off her own testicles and turns them into a fruit tree, leading to a series of events involving her son Atis and a disastrous wedding.

47:50 Prince Philip was worshipped by the Yaonan tribe on the island of Tana in Vanuatu as part of a cargo cult, where the belief is that visitors from another world will return with more stuff, and while it's unclear how the Prince Philip cult started, it may be driven by media attention and the opportunity to meet him.