The Incomparable Mothership
Hosted by Jason Snell
The Incomparable Mothership is the flagship of the Incomparable podcast network. It’s all about geeky media we love, including movies, books, TV, and more, featuring a rotating panel of guests and hosted by Jason Snell and friends.
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.
Previous Episodes
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March 17, 2023 Book Club: “Sea of Tranquility”
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!
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March 10, 2023 “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” season 7
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!
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March 3, 2023 Disney Princess Draft
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.
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February 24, 2023 “Wednesday”
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?
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February 17, 2023 “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
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.
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February 10, 2023 Book Club: R.F. Kuang’s “Babel”
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.
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February 3, 2023 “Sky High”
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.
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January 27, 2023 Secret Agent Draft
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.
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January 20, 2023 “The Peripheral” (TV series)
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.
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January 13, 2023 Naomi Novik’s “Scholomance” trilogy
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.]