Discussed in these episodes

  • The Incomparable Mothership cover art
    The Incomparable Mothership November 27, 2016 “Arrival”
    328 Panspermia, but for Clothes

    We deconstruct and reconstruct the recent release “Arrival,” staring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, and based on a story by Ted Chiang that we discussed nearly 300 episodes ago. There’s praise for the story’s restraint, quiet tone, beautiful scenes of solitary obelisks in remote cow pastures, and realistic portrayal of its main characters. We also enter a spirited debate about the film’s sci-fi plot mechanism, the way its aliens (and alien language) are portrayed, and the morality of a choice that one character may—or may not—have made.

  • The Incomparable Mothership cover art
    The Incomparable Mothership April 11, 2011 SF short stories by Ted Chiang
    32 The Story of Ted Chiang and Others

    Stories by science-fiction writer Ted Chiang, including the anthology “The Story of Your Life and Others.” Plus, enough recommendations to get you through every bathroom break and bus ride for the next three years.

  • The Incomparable Mothership cover art
    The Incomparable Mothership March 7, 2011
    27 Coal Mound Sex Scene
    Turn on your perpetual-motion machine, man your Zeppelin, and fly away for our next edition of the Incomparable Book Club. We discuss "The Dream of Perpetual Motion" by Dexter Palmer, as well as answer the question, "What are you reading?"