The Incomparable

658 Nowhere In Time

Avoid stepping on butterflies, step into your time machine, and go kill your grandfather—it’s time for our Time Travel Movies Draft! We select favorite films from all corners of the time-travel genre, from time loops to historical shenanigans to nonsensical plot twists.

Host Jason Snell with panelists James Thomson, Glenn Fleishman, Erika Ensign, Moisés Chiullán, Annette Wierstra, and Monty Ashley.

657 A Cloud Atlas with 12 Monkeys

Our Book Club reads “Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel, a beautifully written story set in multiple timelines that—like her earlier novel “Station Eleven”—frustrated some, but not all, of our panelists. We also recommend a lot of other books to read!

Next Book Club selections: “Spear” by Nicola Griffith and “The Mountain in the Sea” by Ray Naylor, both Nebula Award nominees.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Erika Ensign, Deb Stanish, Aleen Simms, and Scott McNulty.

What we’re reading

Aleen:

• Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry
• Beach Read by Emily Henry
• A Million Junes by Emily Henry
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Deb:

• Maiden Voyages: Magnificent Ocean Liners and the Women Who Traveled and Worked Aboard Them by Siân Evans
• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
• The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

Erika:

• Rabbit Test
• Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Scott:

• The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
• Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
• Descendant Machine by Gareth L. Powell
• The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran

Jason:

• The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings
• Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

654 Goth Girl Handbook

Wednesday Addams is not the girl of your dreams — she’s the stuff of your nightmares. Our group of outcasts gathers in our secret library to conjure our thoughts on the first season of “Wednesday”, streaming on Netflix. We discuss what we love about the show, while also trying to figure out, is it really meant for us?

653 Royalty Don't Mess Around

Put on your home-built Iron Man suit and whisper into some beads, because it’s time to discuss “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Our panel talks about how the movie leaves space to grieve Chadwick Boseman and T’Challa while also providing a platform for a bunch of black women to take the lead in a geopolitical battle involving the charismatic Namor, the U.S. government, and… the French? We drift into the shipping lanes for a moment, but it doesn’t generate any enthusiasm about the film’s big boat battle.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Cicero Holmes, Moisés Chiullan, Kelly Guimont, and Lisa Schmeiser.

655 Princesses Don't Have to Wear Pink

This week we’re drafting Disney Princesses! There are two simple rules: They must be Disney, and they must be princesses. How far will our intrepid panelists go to stretch those rules? Join us to find out.

Hosts Annette Wierstra & Kathy Campbell with panelists James Thomson, Rosemary Orchard, Moises Chiullan, Monty Ashley, and Glenn Fleishman.

656 Endless Slumber Party

We wrap up our seven-year walkthough(!) of the seven seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The show is slowly grinding to a halt, but are there gems to be discovered? Buffy’s got a speech about that. Maybe the real Big Bad was the friends we made along the way!

Watcher Jason Snell with potential Slayers Aleen Simms, Jean MacDonald, Quinn Rose, Mattie Cox, and Steve Lutz.

652 A Long Zoom

Our Book Club reconvenes to discuss R.F. Kuang’s “Babel.” It’s a story about magic and empire and revolution, and our feelings about it are similarly complicated. Plus: A whole bunch of book suggestions!

Our next Book Club selection: “Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel.

Your Book Club Host is Jason Snell. Attending Book Club members are Aleen Simms, Dan Moren, Glenn Fleishman, Deb Stanish, Erika Ensign, and Scott McNulty.

651 Breakfast Club for Superheroes

Get in line to order a hero sandwich—not so fast, sidekick! We’re here to talk about 2005’s thoroughly delightful Disney movie “Sky High,” featuring superhero action and teen drama that are both full to the brim—but never quite over the top.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Glenn Fleishman, Jean MacDonald, Aleen Simms, and Erika Ensign.

650 The Sum of All Tildas

This week, we’re drafting some spies, secret agents, and con artists. Con artists? Why not? They all use similar skills—sometimes, it’s impossible to tell the difference. From fiction to spoof to inspired by real life, we’ve got it all. Also, is that Cate Blanchett or Tilda Swinton? Good luck, Jim. This episode will self destruct in five seconds.

Host David J. Loehr with panelists Tom McGrath, Chris Klimek, and Nathan Alderman.

Tom:

• Archer
• Charlie Wilson’s War Scarecrow and Mrs King Spy
• Psych

Chris:

• The Avengers
• Hudson Hawk
• Tenspeed and Brownshoe The Nice Guys
• American Flagg

Nathan:

• Sandbaggers
• Hanna
• Alias
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015 film) Leverage

David:

• Mission: Impossible (TV)
• Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
• Lupin
• Maverick (TV and film)
• Parker novels / Dortmunder novels by Donald Westlake

649 I'm Gonna Marry That Robot Lady

Put on your headset and get ready to jump into a polt, because we’re going to discuss “The Peripheral,” Prime Video’s adaptation of William Gibson’s novel. What makes its approach to certain famous sci-fi tropes unique? How interesting are the accents? Why is there an invisible car? We’ll answer those questions as soon as we flee to another stub.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Dan Moren, Erika Ensign, Lisa Schmeiser, and Antony Johnston.

648 Magical NDA

Store up some mana and watch out for maleficers and maw-mouths! We’re going to discuss Naomi Novik’s “Scholomance” trilogy, which takes the familiar story of a school for teenage magicians and does some very different things with it! Before the Spoiler Horn, we talk generally about the books and why you should read them. Then we dig into some of the details of how the series changes as it comes to its end.

Our next Book Club selection is “Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution” by R.F. Kuang.

What are we reading?

Aleen:

• “Signal Moon” by Kate Quinn
• “The Rose Code” by Kate Quinn
• World of the White Rat series by T. Kingfisher
• “Swordheart” by T. Kingfisher
• “Nettle and Bone” by T Kingfisher
• “The Nova Incident” by Dan Moren

Glenn:

• “Housebreaking” by Colleen Hubbard
• “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke
• “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King

Erika:

• “Dead Spots” by Melissa F. Olson
• “The Necessity of Trans Joy” by Izzy Wasserstein

Dan:

• “Blitz” - Daniel O’Malley
• “Nightwatch over Windscar” by K. Eason
• “Locklands” by Robert Jackson Bennett
• “Jeeves and the King of Clubs by Ben Schott

Jason:

• “Blitz” - Daniel O’Malley
• “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King
• “A Gathering of Shadows” by V.E. Schwab

Next Book Club:”Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution” by R.F. Kuang

647 Obnoxiously Vegan

Our favorites from 2022.

Moisés Chiullán

• Pachinko
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Director’s Edition 4K Restoration
• All of Soccer, specifically Austin FC
• Shouting Down Midnight (2022)

David J. Loehr

• Corrections with Seth Meyers on YouTube
• Confess, Fletch (2022)
• Daniel Pemberton scores, including Enola Holmes 2, Slow Horses, Ocean’s 8

Dan Moren

• The Ipcress File (2022) miniseries
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings score Spotify Apple Amazon
• Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS5/)

Erika Ensign

• The Power of the Doctor
• Ghosts US and Ghosts UK
• Jann (2019)

Monty Ashley

• Reservation Dogs (2021) Season 1 & 2
• Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
• Nightflight

Shelly Brisbin

• Kevin Morby “This is a Photograph”
• INDICATOR Film Noir Limited Edition Collections
• Rachel Maddow Presents: ULTRA

Glenn Fleishman

• The Legend of Vox Machina Season 1
• The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
• Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

Chip Sudderth

• 2022 MCU on Disney+: Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney-At-Law, Moon Knight, Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Werewolf by Night
• Meta Quest 2
• The Sandman Season 1

Tony Sindelar

• Andor (2022) Season 1
• Turning Red (2022)
• Return to Monkey Island

Jean MacDonald

• Dalgliesh (2021) Series 1
• Licorice Pizza (2021)
• Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Cicero Holmes

• Apt. 505 by Coast Contra Spotify
• Deep-diving on everything on Apple TV+, in particular Acapulco (2021) Season 1 & 2
• High On Life

Lisa Schmeiser

• The Sandman Season 1
• The Peripheral (2022) Season 1
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Jason Snell

• Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1
• The Tragedy of MacBeth (2021), even though Cicero picked all of TV+, because it’s not a draft

646 A Christmas Quarrel

The Knight before Christmas this year is David Lowery’s 2021 film The Green Knight. This year’s final Mothership episode is a game inside a gift inside a game, much like the movie. Is every episode featuring Glenn secretly (or not-so-secretly) about Zardoz? What secrets of the exotic West Midlands does Antony have to reveal? Do Incomparable members get more or less Glenn this year? Find out as we champion diverging from the path as the most direct route to completing a quest.

Host Moisés Chiullán with panelists Glenn Fleishman and Antony Johnston.

645 Oh No, My Spleen!

Our annual Kilmas tradition leads us to watch the questionable 2000 sci-fi film “Red Planet,” in which Val Kimer is at his best, and several other actors are also present. Also, the main plot points of this film are so similar to “The Martian” that we’re now convinced Andy Weir must have seen this film and vowed to do it better. But if you’ve ever wanted to watch a dumber version of “The Martian,” have we found the movie for you.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Moisés Chiullan, Annette Wierstra, Erika Ensign, and David J. Loehr.

644 Spoilers for "ALF"

Star Wars gets serious with “Andor,” a show that gives us exactly what we needed (but didn’t know we wanted?) from the venerable franchise. We break down the plots, characters, and storytelling choices, live from John Siracusa’s living room!

Host Jason Snell with panelists Dan Moren, Tony Sindelar, and John Siracusa.

643 Shouty Oscar Winners

50 years later, we watch Irwin Allen’s disaster classic “The Poseidon Adventure.”

Host Jean MacDonald with panelists Steve Lutz, Shelly Brisbin, and John Chidgey.

642 Management Advice From Mobsters

Are you calling us funny? Are we like a clown? Do we amuse you? More than thirty years later, “GoodFellas” still stands up. In honor of the late Ray Liotta, we break down Martin Scorsese’s classic film about street-level gangsters.

Host Jason Snell with panelists John Siracusa, Monty Ashley, and Philip Michaels.

641 Miles Ahead of Lou Ferrigno

Put on a magic bangle and pick up your briefcase, because it’s time for us to discuss two Marvel Disney+ series that push the universe in some new and interesting directions, “Ms. Marvel” and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”

Host Jason Snell with panelists Erika Ensign, Cicero Holmes, Moises Chiullan, and Chip Sudderth.

640 Did He Really Date Madonna?

“Weird” is the direct-to-Roku movie that accurately chronicles every aspect of Al Yankovic’s life. This podcast accurately chronicles every aspect of the movie.

Host Lex Friedman with panelists Brian Hamilton, Quinn Rose, and Kelly Guimont.

639 Prologue: The Television Series

We watched “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and “House of the Dragon” and have thoughts.

Host Jason Snell with panelists John Siracusa, Moises Chiullan, Erika Ensign, and Joe Rosensteel.

638 A Loose Assemblage of Goo and Blobs

Put on a jacket and charge up your flamethrower, because it’s almost halloween, and that means it’s time for Old Spooky Club to discuss 1982’s “The Thing.” It’s foul and drippy and gooey—the Thing, that is, and not the movie. The movie’s not foul. It’s the other two, though.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Steve Lutz, Philip Michaels, and Erika Ensign.

637 Sorry, Charlie, It's Chinatown

Our Old Movie Club sits down with a nice plate of fish and a large glass of water to watch 1972’s “Chinatown.” We discuss the merits of Jack Nicholson, the horror of John Huston’s character, and perhaps the perfect noir screenplay.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Steve Lutz, Philip Michaels, Shelly Brisbin, Dr. Drang, and David J. Loehr.

636 The Elephant in the Trenchcoat

Mystery and mayhem are on the menu as we draft favorite TV detectives. Thomas Magnum is off the board, but everyone else is fair game. Who will our panelists choose to figure out whodunit? Will it be the usual suspects? Surely Jim Rockford will be on the list, unless he didn’t get his voicemail…

Host David J. Loehr with panelists Katie Siegel, Tom McGrath, Shelly Brisbin, Nathan Alderman, and Chris Klimek.

635 Throw a Rock at a Reader

It’s time to reconvene our Book Club, not to talk about an awards shortlist but to recommend books from arbitrarily selected categories. So many books! And not many rocks, we promise.

Host Antony Johnston with Panelists Erika Ensign, Jason Snell, and James Thomson.

634 Addicted to Sand

Netflix’s “The Sandman.”

Host Tony Sindelar with panelists Dan Moren, Glenn Fleishman, Sarah Bickerton, Shannon Sudderth, and Chip Sudderth.

633 Thor Family

Russell Crowe! Christian Bale! Natalie Portman! Are they starring in a prestige film that we’re sure to hear about when Oscar time comes around? No, it’s “Thor: Love and Thunder!” But while this movie might not be able to live up to “Thor: Ragnarok,” there are a lot of things we appreciated about it. And also some things we didn’t. It’s all about tone.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Tony Sindelar, Chip Sudderth, and Kathy Campbell.

632 Time Bandit Titanic

Mum, Dad, it’s evil, don’t touch it! The Summer of Time Travel reaches its end—or is it the beginning?—with 1981’s “Time Bandits,” a children’s fantasy written and directed and even featuring some Monty Pythons. Does it work for adults? Does the tone still work? We fall through a time hole and give our verdict.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Annette Wierstra, David J. Loehr, Monty Ashley, and Shelly Brisbin.

631 Timecop After Timecop

What if H.G. Wells used a time machine to chase Jack the Ripper into the present day (of 1979)? It would look an awful lot like 1979’s “Time After Time,” we’re guessing. David Warner and Malcolm McDowell match wits! Mary Steenburgen is a modern lady looking for an old-fashioned man! Also Jason observes the film’s (pretty good) depiction of San Francisco geography and Jean confronts her young moviegoing trauma.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Jean MacDonald, Moises Chiullan, Monty Ashley, and David J. Loehr.

630 Saunter in From the Future

The Summer of Time Travel turns to “Timecop.” It’s not time science, it’s kicking surgery.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Monty Ashley, Annette Wierstra, and Joe Rosensteel.

629b: Laundry and Taxes 629b: Laundry and Taxes

In the second of two panels discussing Everything Everywhere All At Once, we abandon a linear discussion of the plot in favor of jumping from place to place across the multiverse of our FEELINGS. Do we get lost, or is this the only way we could truly find ourselves?

Host Moises Chiullan with panelists Joy Piedmont and Sarah Hendrica Bickerton.

629 Bum Bag Beatdown

We take a sideways break from the Summer of Time Travel by verse-jumping across realities to Everything Everywhere All At Once, the multiverse movie directed by The Daniels and starring Michelle Yeoh. Is empathy the superpower Doctor Strange needed all along? Too bad, because he isn’t in this movie!

Host Moises Chiullan with panelists Brian Hamilton, Jean MacDonald, and Sandra Wong.

628 Dumbness is Timeless

The Summer of Time Travel begins/ends/continues (pick one) with 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” in which two dumb guys collect some of history’s greatest figures and take them to the mall. Party on, dudes!

Host Jason Snell with panelists Kelly Guimont, Lisa Schmeiser, Moisés Chiullan, and Steve Lutz.

627 The Czech Office

The days of appointment television are long gone, but what if you could create a streaming service broadcasting the best that TV had to offer in the 21st century? What shows would be on your marquee? We’ve got you covered, with our very first Peak TV draft (patent pending)! Will your favorite shows get drafted? Tune in to find out!

Host Cicero Holmes with David J. Loehr, Jean MacDonald, Monty Ashley, Shareef Jackson, and Moisés Chiullan.

626 Don't Copy That Chip 'n Dale Floppy

The release of the super-meta “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” with John Mulaney and Andy Samberg on Disney+ put us in mind of a movie from which it borrowed a hunk of its DNA: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” We first toon, er, tune our dial to that classic, groundbreaking 1988 Robert Zemeckis-directed film, then look at its 2022 chip off the old block. Forget it, Dale, it’s Toontown.

Host Glenn Fleishman with David J. Loehr, Moisés Chiullan, and Shelly Brisbin.

625 Frisky Vulcans

We wrap up three seasons of new live-action Star Trek with some tough love for “Discovery” and “Picard”, and some unabashed love for “Strange New Worlds.”

Host Jason Snell with Jean MacDonald, Tony Sindelar, Joe Rosensteel, and David J. Loehr.

623 Sand Tuna Thief

Hello there! We discuss “Obi-Wan Kenobi” on Disney+, including Ewan MacGregor’s delight in the role, the return of Hayden Christensen, and balancing the needs of superfans with movies-only fans.

Host Dan Moren with panelists Kathy Campbell, Tony Sindelar, James Thomson, and Chip Sudderth.

621 They Built the Halos

Let’s face it, there’s not a lot of evidence to support the cause of adapting video games for movies or TV. And yet we tried the “Halo” TV series from Paramount+ and… liked it? We discuss making the Master Chief a real character with a strong supporting cast, why the UNSC is not trustworthy, the origin of Cortana, and the show’s connections to Star Wars, Firefly, and… 2001?!

Host Jason Snell with panelists Moisés Chiullan, Dan Moren and James Thomson.

622 The MacGuffin Twins

Put on your flying cloak and load up on pizza balls, because we’re here to talk about “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” This is an interesting one, because most of us agree that the movie is fun and inventive in a lot of enjoyable ways—but also entirely mishandles its villain. Can you love a movie that also make you angry? We try! Some of us fail.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Sarah Hendrica Bickerton, Erika Ensign, Lisa Schmeiser, Monty Ashley, and Glenn Fleishman.

624 You Got Ludlumed

On the occasion of the publication of “The Nova Incident,” Jason asks Dan a bunch of questions from readers (and listeners) about his writing career, techniques, tools, and more.

Host Jason Snell with very special author-panelist Dan Moren.

620 Alien Donut Lady

2022 Awards Book Club concludes with three Hugo-nominated novels: Andy Weir’s deep-space problem-solver “Project Hail Mary”; Shelley Parker Chan’s historical epic “She Who Became the Sun”; and Ryka Aoki’s alien-and-demon-packed “Light from Uncommon Stars.” Also, Erika and Jason highlight some of their favorite short-fiction Hugo nominees.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty, and Dan Moren.

Collective rankings:

1. “The Galaxy and the Ground Within” (4 first-place votes, 1.2 average)
2. “A Desolation Called Peace” (1, 2.2)
3. Light from Uncommon Stars (0, 3.5)
4. “Project Hail Mary” (0, 4)
5. “A Master of Djinn” (0, 4.4)
6. “She Who Became the Sun” (0, 5.2)

619 Who Will Speak For Fish Police?

From Duckman to Dicktown, this week we’re covering cartoons… for grown-ups. These animated series have an adult sensibility, and they don’t all feature obscenity, graphic violence, or sexual acts… though some do! Shows like The Legend of Vox Machina, Harley Quinn, Hit Monkey, and Invincible have an adult audience clearly or primarily in mind, while others, like Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law or The Tick require a deep well of cultural references that might leave children (and many adults) baffled. We discuss the overall trend, highlight shows past and present we love, and puzzle out how some shows (good and inexplicable) even came to be.

Host Glenn Fleishman with panelists David J. Loehr, John McCoy, Moisés Chiullan, Lisa Schmeiser, and Tony Sindelar.

Show Notes

Notes: Undone season two is already out; we may have called the animated series Disenchantment by the name Disenchanted (an upcoming movie sequel to the Enchanted film); and it’s not clear yet if Hit Monkey has shot its only season.

In this episode, we talked about a hundred or more series, but the following are ones a panelist called out in particular in a very rough order. Links to watch the show may largely work only in the United States.

• Duckman (watch)
• Beavis and Butt-Head (watch) (remastered episodes coming)
• Daria (watch)
• King of the Hill (watch)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (watch)
• Sealab 2020 (watch)
• Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (watch)
• Tuca and Bertie (watch season 1 on Netflix, season 2 on Adult Swim)
• Invincible (watch)
• Hit Monkey) (watch)
• The Legend of Vox Machina (watch)
• Masters of the Universe: Revelation (watch)
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (watch)
• Tear Along the Dotted Line (watch)
• BoJack Horseman (watch)
• Disenchantment (watch)
• Saturday Morning All Star Hits (watch)
• Futurama (watch)
• Centaurworld (watch)
• Castlevania (watch)
• Batman: The Animated Series (watch)
• Love, Death, and Robots (watch)
• Fish Police (watch)
• Bob’s Burgers (watch)
• Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (watch)
• Home Movies (watch)
• Adventure Time (watch)
• Steven Universe (watch)
• Regular Show (watch)
• Chowder (watch)
• Primal (watch)
• Arcane (watch)
• Poorly Drawn Lines (watch)
• Robot Chicken (watch)
• Gravity Falls (watch)
• The Venture Brothers (watch)
• The Tick: 1994 (watch), 2001 (watch), 2016 (watch)
• Harley Quinn on HBO (watch)
• Undone (watch)
• Apollo 10 1/2 (watch)
• The Critic (watch)
• Infinity Train (watch)
• The Flintstones
• Dicktown (watch)

617 Group Therapy for One Guy

Moon Knight—the butt of a thousand jokes on this very network who improbably made the Sweet Sixteen of our infamous Summer Superhero Spectacular—got his own limited series on Disney+. We talk about the Oscar Isaac of it all, the loving attention to modern Egypt, whether the show is well served by its near-total disconnection to the MCU, and how it might have held up as a ’90s syndicated actioner. (Think “Relic Hunter” production values. You can see it, can’t you?

Host Chip Sudderth with Erika Ensign, Moisés Chiullan, Dan Moren, and Glenn Fleishman.

618 Mars Monkey Dance Number

Rocket Surgery takes a time machine back to 1930 for “Just Imagine,” a visionary view of the far future of 1980 that’s three movies in one—and feels like it. Then we jump to the real 1980 where, instead of evil martian twins, we find “Flash Gordon,” quarterback, New York Jets.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Steve Lutz, Moisés Chiullan, David J. Loehr, Shelly Brisbin, and Monty Ashley.

616 Bad Decision Theater

Awards Book Club returns for its second 2022 installment! This time it’s “The Galaxy and the Ground Within” by Becky Chambers, A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, and The Unbroken by C.L. Clark.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Erika Ensign, Scott McNulty, Dan Moren, and Aleen Simms.

Dan:

• The Thursday Murder Club
• Amongst Our Weapons

Scott:

• Under Lock & Skeleton Key

Erika:

• Winter’s Orbit
• Rosebud
• Your Eyes, My Beacon
• You Perfect, Broken Thing

Aleen:

• Jade City (The Green Bone Saga series)
• Minor Mage
• The Wolf and the Woodsman

Jason:

• How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It
• Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game
• All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told

615 People-Positive Management Style

What do you get when you blend historical fiction, pirates, and Taika Waititi? You get “Our Flag Means Death,” an ensemble romantic comedy featuring both ship battles and biting insults.

It only makes sense that Cicero Holmes brought the most loquacious of panelists: Annette Wierstra, Moises Chuillan, Joe Rosenteel, and David J. Loehr.

614 Eternal Spotlight of the Sunless Mind

Step through the door and leave your personal biographical memories behind. Welcome. You’re now part of Lumen, a Very Friendly Company that always has your best interests at heart. We discuss the Apple TV+ series “Severance,” and try to explain why you should watch it, what shows it resembles, and just how much we liked the twists and turns of its first season.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Lex F., Glenn F., Dr. D., and Erika E.

613 Kaiju Panda

Put on your toque and be sure you’ve got your 4*Town tickets—we’re here to discuss Pixar’s “Turning Red,” a delightful coming-of-age movie about a Chinese-Canadian girl whose body is undergoing some telltale adolescent changes—you know, becoming interested in boys, rebelling against her parents, and transforming into a giant fuzzy red panda. The usual.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Moisés Chiullan, Sandra Wong, Monty Ashley, and Joy Piedmont.

612 YABM: Yet Another Batman Movie

Our panel of caped crusaders assemble to dissect 2022’s “The Batman.” The last thing we may have needed was another Batman movie, especially the grimmest, darkest, and longest one ever… but what if we actually liked it? We take apart the new approaches to classic batman stories, Robert Pattinson’s performance, souped-up batmobiles, and Gotham’s weather patterns.

Host Tony Sindelar with panelists Cicero Holmes, Dan Moren, Guy English, and Lisa Schmeiser.

611 Distributed Disinterested Dystopia

Our annual shortlist book club is back! We read two novels that were nominated for Best Novel in the Nebula Awards! SB Divya’s “Machinehood” is a near-future story of gig workers, weak AI servants, and rebellious space stations. Jason Sanford’s “Plague Birds” is a post-apocalyptic story about strong AIs and gene-altered people that’s so far in the future that it feels almost like fantasy. Plus: We recommend other books we’ve enjoyed recently!

Host Jason Snell with panelists Erika Ensign and Scott McNulty.

What have we been reading?

Scott

• Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford
• Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson

Erika

• The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein
• City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
• Short fiction from Uncanny Magazine: Ina’s Spark by Mary Robinette Kowal and Ribbons by Natalia Theodoridou and The Clockwork Penguin Dreamed of Stars by Caroline Yoachim and Lily, the Immortal by Kylie Lee Baker

Jason

• Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

610 No, Mr. Blond, I Expect You to Die

Cue the electric bass and the full brass section, we’re talking Bond, James Bond this week. We make time for “No Time to Die,” of course, and the rest of the Daniel Craig era. How does it hold up, where does it go from here, what would we like to see? How does the latest movie reset the table? Were we shaken, stirred, or something in between?

Host David J. Loehr with panelists Kelly Guimont, Nathan Alderman, and Tom McGrath.

609 Chekhov's Toy Store

Old Movie Club returns with two films that imagine attempts to disrupt the United States government. In 1954’s “Suddenly,” Frank Sinatra’s going to try to kill the President. In 1964’s “Seven Days In May,” Burt Lancaster is plotting a military coup. Both films are in black and white from more than 50 years ago, and yet for some reason Phil thinks their themes may resonate even today…

Host Jason Snell with panelists Philip Michaels, Shelly Brisbin, Moises Chiullan, and David J. Loehr.

608 A Centaur, Only for Cars

Fire up your Bernoulli Conversionator and check your trunk for stowaways, because we’re entering the Wachowski sisters’ candy-colored 2008 road rally through the Uncanny Valley, “Speed Racer.” It’s an eye-searing acid trip of a movie, with groundbreaking storytelling, an earnest heart, and a curious void at its center. (There is also a chimp.) We’ll discuss how this film fits into the Wachowskis’ canon, the supporting character whose story is way more interesting than the lead‚ and the only other big-budget film since that has dared to get this stylistically weird.

Host Nathan Alderman with Lisa Schmeiser and Shelly Brisbin.

607 I Regret So Many Great Movies

We’re back with our third Incomparable Film Festival! Nine of us are programming a day’s worth of films, all with secret themes which will be revealed as the podcast progresses! And while we are currently unable to pull off the Incomparable Film Festival in an actual movie theater, we encourage you to watch these great movies in the comfort of your own home.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Monty Ashley, Moisés Chiullan, Shelly Brisbin, Erika Ensign, David J. Loehr, Cicero Holmes, Steven Schapansky, and Dan Moren.

Picks:

• Monty: The Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Ace in the Hole (1951), Tabloid (2010), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) (Bad Journalism)
• Moises: Fashions of 1934 (1934), The Red Shoes (1948), In the Mood for Love (2000), Moulin Rouge (2001) (Changed the visual language)
• Shelly: Harold and Maude (1971), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Nashville (1975), The Station Agent (2003) (Brooding introverts with a heart)
• Erika: Top Hat (1935), The Awful Truth (1937), My Favorite Wife (1940), Funny Face (1957) (Pajama day)
• David: Knives Out (2019), The Last of Sheila (1973), Out of Sight (1998), Ocean’s Eleven (2001) (Intricately plotted)
• Cicero: The Sandlot (1993), Swingers (1996), This is 40 (2012), Last Vegas (2013) (Diamonds are Forever-phases of life)
• Steven: Star Wars (1977), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) (Alternate Oscars)
• Dan: L.A. Confidential (1997), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), The Nice Guys (2016), Logan Lucky (2017) (Neo-noir crime)
• Jason: My Neighbor Totoro (1988), The Iron Giant (1999), Labyrinth (1986), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) (friendly monsters)

Extras

• Monty: His Girl Friday (also The Front Page and Switching Channels)
• Moises: Public Domain (all Horror), Nosferatu (1922), House on Haunted Hill (1959), Manos The Hands of Fate (1966), Night of the Living Dead (1968); Public Domain (one horror), short film intro: Popeye the Sailor Man Meets Sindbad The Sailor (1936), His Girl Friday (1940), Carnival of Souls (1962), Charade (1963), Just Imagine (1930); Nicolas Cage plus Paddington 2 Because Why Not, Wild at Heart (1992), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022), Paddington 2 (2017)
• Shelly: Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Christopher Strong (1933), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), The Color Purple (1985)
• Erika: Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, Goonies, Willow
• David: Backups for the theme: Logan Lucky, The Brothers Bloom, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, Sleuth (1972), The Sting; Modern Musicals: Encanto, In the Heights, West Side Story (2021), All That Jazz; Political Science: Manchurian Candidate, Good Night, and Good Luck, Fail-Safe, Dr. Strangelove
• Steven: All the President’s Men (1976), The China Syndrome (1979), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Snatch (2000), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), United 93 (2006)
• Dan: Knives Out (sniped), Zero Effect (ineligible), North by Northwest, Bridge over the River Kwai, The Sting, The Fugitive
• Jason: Monsters Inc. (2001), ET, Ponyo, Gremlins (1984), Time Loops: Groundhog Day, Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, Palm Springs, Looper, Primer

606 The Bears Did It

We’ve drafted many things on many episodes of this podcast, but we’ve never drafted podcasts! You get it: Panelists share (and draft!) their favorite podcasts, in categories like Comedy, Narrative, Fiction, Entertainment, and more.

Host Lex Friedman with panelists David J. Loehr, Monty Ashley, Shelly Brisbin, and Brian Hamilton.

Comedy:
* Shelly: ICYMI
* Brian: The Flophouse
* David: No Such Thing As A Fish
* Lex: Judge John Hodgman
* Monty: Comedy Bang Bang

Narrative:
* Shelly: Ear Hustle
* Brian: The Dream
* David: If I Go Missing: The Witches Did It
* Lex: Over My Dead Body
* Monty: Cocaine and Rhinestones

Fiction:
* Shelly: Bronzeville
* Brian: Alice Isn’t Dead
* David: Give Me Away
* Lex: Hello From The Magic Tavern
* Monty: Off Book: The Improvised Musical Podcast

Entertainment:
* Shelly: Gates McFadden Investigates
* Brian: The Besties
* David: Films To Be Buried With
* Lex: Smartless (not Conan, HDTGM, or WTF)
* Monty: Blank Check

Wildcard:
* Shelly: NitrateVille Radio [You Must Remember This, Crimetown, NYT Book Review, Hit Parade]
* Brian: My Brother, My Brother, and Me [You’re Wrong About, We Have Concerns]
* David: The Memory Palace [99% Invisible, Twenty Thousand Hertz, Infinite Monkey Cage, A Degree Absolute ]
* Lex: Threedom [Missing Richard Simmons, The West Wing Weekly, Reply All]
* Monty: Bonusnanas for Bonusnanza [Bonanas for Bonanza, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Podcast: The Ride, Good Christian Fun]

605 Apocalypse Doctoring

Get out your pocket knife and stick to the Wheel—we’re a traveling band of podcasters who move from town to town to re-enact conversations from before the apocalypse! Or at least that’s who we’d be in our version of the HBO Max miniseries, “Station Eleven.” We discuss the moving, optimistic post-apocalyptic tale that is told in a fractured time sequence and features lots of Shakespeare and a suspiciously powerful self-published graphic novel. And though there’s definitely no “Station Twelve” on the horizon, we can’t help but imagine what other stories are there just waiting to never be told.

Host Jason Snell with panelists John Siracusa, Aleen Simms, Jean MacDonald, and Annette Wierstra.

604 Team Creepy

Let’s hold hands and sneak through some eerie city ruins. Video game club is back in session to discuss “Little Nightmares II”, the creepy prequel to the beloved spooky platformer, Little Nightmares. We play as Mono, a bag-faced boy, as he and his companion navigate a world of puzzles and monsters lurking in the dark, only to be led to his own nightmare.

Host Tiff Arment with panelists Brian Hamilton and James Thomson.

• Little Nightmares: Recently Played
• Little Nightmares II Wikipedia
• Tarsier Studio

603 Witness for the Airship

This episode features a book with fantasy zombies and a book with alien hive minds. Talk about range! Our Book Club reconvenes to discuss the fantasy mystery “Witness for the Dead,” a standalone book set in the world of “The Goblin Emperor”, and “A Desolation Called Peace,” the conclusion of the duology begun in the award-winning “A Memory Called Empire.” Plus: What are we reading?

Host Jason Snell with panelists Dan Moren, Scott McNulty, Glenn Fleishman, and Erika Ensign.

What are we reading?

Scott:

• A Practical Guide to Conquering the World - KJ Parker
• Jade Legacy - Fonda Lee
• Light From Uncommon Stars - Ryka Aoki

Erika:

• Across the Green Grass Fields - Seanan Maguire
• City of Stairs - Robert Jackson Bennett

Glenn:

• Palatino: The Natural History of a Typeface - Robert Bringhurst
• Index, A History of the - Dennis Duncan
• The Glass Key - Dashiell Hammett

Dan

• The Liar’s Knot (Rook and Rose) - M.A. Carrick
• Braking Day - Adam Oyebanji
• The Steerswoman - Rosemary Kirstein

Jason:

• A Master of Djinn - P. Djeli Clark
• The Last Graduate - Naomi Novik
• The Shattered Skies - John Birmingham
• Family Trade / Merchant Princes series - Charles Stross

Time codes for skippers:

00:06:53 - Discussion of “Witness for the Dead”

00:35:43 - Discussion for “A Desolation Called Peace”

01:02:51 - “What Are we Reading?”

602 The Show You Think You Saw

Remember that cool bounty hunter from The Empire Strikes Back? What happens when you give him his own show? “The Book of Boba Fett” is the answer—or is it? After all, parts of this show are really episodes of a different, arguably better show. Our panel discusses the seven-episode season and tries to figure out if this mess is hot or cold.

Hosted by Dan Moren with panelists Kathy Campbell, Erika Ensign, and Chip Sudderth.

601 The Most Holden Move

In this episode we break down the final season of Prime Video’s “The Expanse.” Was it too abrupt? What was all that Laconia stuff? Then, after a brief intermission for TV viewers to depart, we discuss “Leviathan Falls” and the end of the Expanse book series. One story, so many endings!

Host Jason Snell with panelists Chip Sudderth, Jen Burt, Dan Moren, and Aleen Simms.

600 The Machine Was a Vampire

In this six-hundredth episode of The Incomparable, recorded across two separate sessions, we talk about a whole bunch of novels—namely, our picks for the best SF/F novels of the first decade of The Incomparable, the 2010s! For our purposes, we’re designating the “decade” as 2010-2019. Along the way, we may ponder the most important question a reader should ask: Are there Zeppelins?

Host Jason Snell with panelists Scott McNulty, Dan Moren, Glenn Fleishman. And also Host Jason Snell with panelists Aleen Simms, Erika Ensign, and David J. Loehr.

Round One:

• Scott - The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer
• Dan - The Rook - Daniel O’Malley
• Glenn - This Is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
• Jason - Among Others - Jo Walton
• Aleen - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
• Erika - A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers
• David - The Human Division - John Scalzi

Round Two:

• Scott - My Real Children - Jo Walton
• Dan - Caliban’s War - James S.A. Corey
• Glenn - The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstein
• Jason - 11/22/63 - Stephen King
• Aleen - The Calculating Stars - Mary Robinette Kowal
• Erika - The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
• David - The Haunting of Tram Car 015 - P. Djeli Clark

Round Three:

• Scott - Luna: New Moon - Ian McDonald
• Dan - Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
• Glenn - The Magician’s Land - Lev Grossman
• Jason - A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine
• Aleen - The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
• Erika - Borderline - Mishell Baker
• David - The Quantum Thief - Hannu Rajaniemi

Round Four:

• Scott - Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - KJ Parker
• Dan - Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance - Lois McMaster Bujold
• Glenn - The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker
• Jason - Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
• Aleen - Strange Practice - Vivian Shaw
• Erika - Libriomancer - Jim C. Hines
• David - Day of the Doctor - Steven Moffat

Round Five:

• Scott - New York 2140 - Kim Stanley Robinson
• Dan - City of Miracles - Robert Jackson Bennett
• Glenn - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemisin
• Jason - Gnomon - Nick Harkaway
• Aleen - Hollow Kingdom - Kyra Jane Buxton
• Erika - Delia’s Shadow - Jamie Lee Moyer
• David - Noir - Christopher Moore

Also Mentioned/Not Picked (Compiled by Listener AJ):

Glenn:

• Uprooted - Naomi Novik (also Jason, Erika)
• Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
• How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu
• Exhalation: Stories (including The Lifecycle of Software Objects) - Ted Chiang

Scott:

• Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee
• Barsk - Lawrence M. Schoen (also Jason)
• Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie
• Three Parts Dead - Max Gladstone

Dan:

• Gideon the Ninth (but not so much Harrow the Ninth) - Tamsyn Muir
• The Martian - Andy Weir
• The “Penric and Desdemona” series of novellas, starting with Penric’s Demon - Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman (also Aleen)
• The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
• Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett

Jason:

• The Galaxy and the Ground Within - Becky Chambers (also Dan)
• The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter - Theodora Goss
• Tiamat’s Wrath - James S A Corey
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built - Becky Chambers (2020s)

Aleen:

• The Ghost Bride - Yangsze Choo (also the Netflix series)
• The Caledonian Gambit - Dan Moren

Erika: - The Midnight Bargain - C. L. Polk (bonus 2020s pick!) - Summer in Orcus - T Kingfisher - Terminal Alliance - Jim C. Hines - School for Sidekicks - Kelly McCullough

David:

• Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang (also kind of Glenn, on his blog)
• The Paper Menagerie - Ken Liu
• Blackout (but maybe not All Clear, which is the second half of the same book?) - Connie Willis
• Six Wakes - Mur Lafferty
• Trail of Lightning - Rebecca Roanhorse
• Alif the Unseen - G Willow Wilson
• The Ballad of Black Tom - Victor LaValle
• The Light Brigade - Kameron Hurley

599 Have You Tried This Arrow?

It’s time to channel that Tired Dad Energy, because we’re going to discuss Marvel’s “Hawkeye,” bro. Kate Bishop! Yelena! Echo! Surprise cameos, including one by an owl! It’s a TV series nobody watching “The Avengers” would have ever wanted, yet a worn and exasperated Jeremy Renner as the mentor to a young woman with strong archery skills ends up being a delightful holiday adventure.

Host Jason Snell with guests Cicero Holmes, Dan Moren, Lisa Schmeiser, and Chip Sudderth.

598 Tropiest of Spaghetti Westerns

We’ve rounded up a posse and are saddling up to discuss the Netflix original film “The Harder They Fall,” a revisionist western starring Idris Elba, Jonathan Majors, and Regina King. This movie is more ornery than a pole cat with a hangnail! We ride at noon!

Host Cicero Holmes with panelists Nathan Alderman and Shareef Jackson.

Link: The Resurrection of Bass Reeves

597 Get Me Pictures of Seven Spider-Men!

Get your college applications ready and prepare to gross out about organic web shooters—it’s time for us to discuss “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the conclusion of Tom Holland’s origin trilogy as the web-slinging hero… and a surprisingly substantial follow-up to five other Spider-Man movies, too. It’s “Spider-Man: Endgame,” and with great podcasts, there must also come great responsibility… to talk about Spider-Man.

Host Jason Snell with panelists Dan Moren, Kelly Guimont, and Chip Sudderth.

596 Tom Bombadilification

More than three decades since the Wheel of Time book series began, it’s arrived as a TV series on Prime Video. We discuss the first season with the help of our resident Wheel of Time book expert and three non-book-readers. How much is or isn’t it the “next Game of Thrones?” Why would it need to be be? And how does a book series that was wildly progressive for the 1990s approach a modern audience?

Guest Host Moisés Chiullan with panelists Glenn Fleishman, Kathy Campbell, and John Siracusa.

595 I Didn't Have a Tab - The Best of 2021

Hot dog! It’s time for our annual look back at the year gone by. And it was certainly a year! Some of us caught up on stuff, while others who usually abandon their lists as winter turns to spring decided not to bother making lists at all! As is traditional, our panelists and listeners pick favorite Incomparable episodes and moments in this episode. Did the best moment of the year happen in last year’s clip show? Are there multiple clip loops running now? Has The Incomparable finally ground Jason down into mush? The answers are within!

Our picks:

• Steve - Ted Lasso (TV), One Cut of the Dead (Film), Persona 4 Golden (VG)
• Erika - Covert Affairs (TV), Local Podcasts
• Jean - Dune (Film), WandaVision (TV), Vera Stanhope series (audiobooks)
• Dan - No Time To Die (Film), Leverage: Redemption (TV), The Mask of Mirrors (book), Learned League (game)
• David - In The Heights (Film), Only Murders in the Building (TV), Murder Under Her Skin (Books)
• Monty - RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars S6E3 (TV), Malignant (Movie), Cyberpunk 2077 (VG)
• Moises - Metroid Dread (VG), The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (documentary), What We Do in the Shadows (TV), For All Mankind (TV), Killing Eve (TV), Search Party, The Other Two
• Jason - Piranesi (Book), For All Mankind/Hacks (TV), Promising Young Woman (Film)

594 Money in His Underwear

Merry Kilmas to all who celebrate the works of Val Kilmer! This year, our Kilmas selection is “The Saint,” a very 90s spy movie featuring surprise sweater reveals, tension-free water pipe escapes, and a wide collection of accents, wigs, and pseudonyms—all from Val Kilmer, of course.

Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Dan Moren, David J. Loehr, Jean MacDonald, and Moisés Chiullan.

593 The Beatles Need Me!

We watched all eight hours of the Disney+ documentary “The Beatles: Get Back” and now we’re going to talk about it. Toast, vests, London Bobbies sucking on their chin straps, Debbie the receptionist, Paul as “second boss”, Yoko’s knitting, George Harrison’s pinstripes, and most importantly, the amazing view of a bunch of musical geniuses having a very difficult time creating anything at all.

Extras: Podcast app features we could use, and jazz gummies are legal in Canada.

Host Jason Snell with guests Amy Gruber, Guy English, Monty Ashley, and Steven Schapansky.

592 A Glorious Mess

Grab your Tamagotchi Baby Monitor, because it’s time to discuss “Doctor Who: Flux,” a six-episode season that had a lot of plot, a lot of characters, and a lot of questions, many of them unanswered! We discuss what worked this season and what didn’t, anticipate the 2022 run of specials to end Jodie Whitaker’s era, and ponder what Modern Doctor Who looks like when Russell T Davies takes over the show (again) in 2023.

591 That Poor Pie

We discuss Marvel’s weird and epic “Eternals,” which breaks a lot of Marvel-movie conventions while attempting to tell a different kind of story with a whole lot of new characters. It’s full of interesting choices, some of which pay off, while others end up amounting to not very much.

173 Santa-Based Christmas

‘Tis the season for holiday music! Unfortunately, while we unabashedly love the holidays, some holiday music is also very bad. There’s a Christmas Mouse and also some Christmas Shoes and (unfortunately for most) some Christmas Wrapping. We talk about what makes a good holiday song and complain about some of the worst the season has to offer.

[This version of a 2013 classic episode has been completely re-processed and re-edited from the original files. It is the latest in a long line of definitive re-issues of the original episode 173, “Santa-Based Christmas.” This might be the final one, but never say never.]