174: The Incomparable Christmas Spectacular
The Incomparable Radio Theater of the Air wishes a Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Dec 22, 2013•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 174
The Incomparable Mothership
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.
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Episodes
173z: Human Santapede (the unedited version)
‘Tis the season for holiday music! Unfortunately, while we unabashedly love the holidays, only some holiday music strikes our fancy. Join us as we talk about what make good and bad holiday songs. (This is the unedited version of the session that became Incomparable 173, our holiday music episode.)
Dec 15, 2013•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 173
173: Santa-Based Christmas
‘Tis the season for holiday music! Unfortunately, while we unabashedly love the holidays, only some holiday music strikes our fancy. Join us as we talk about what makes a good holiday song and then stick around (if you dare) as we complain about some of the worst the season has to offer. Happy holidays, folks! (This is a new full edit of the classic episode done by Jason in 2021, with improved sound and fewer editorial “improvements” so it more closely resembles the original, infamous recording ...
Dec 14, 2013•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 173
172: The Incomparable Holiday Vault 3
Holiday TV: There’s a lot of it, and some of it is good. A lot of it is bad. We talk about classics great and not-so-great and induct some very special shows into the Incomparable Holiday Vault. Also, Steve reveals a deep, dark secret.
Dec 07, 2013•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 172
171: Pirate Politics (A Winter Reading List)
Winter’s here and it’s time to light a fire, get under a blanket, and curl up with a good book. Our panelists are well read and of exquisite taste, so we’ve got a boatload of suggestions for you. From funny to serious, there’s a book in our list that will hit the spot the next time you’re looking for something to read.
Nov 29, 2013•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 171
170: Let Zygons Be Zygons
In this special unedited flashcast edition, we talk about the 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who, “The Day of the Doctor,” immediately after viewing it! It just about made our heads explode and we want to watch it again immediately. Join us for our post-episode breakdown of what we saw and what we liked.
Nov 23, 2013•45 min•Ep. 170
169: A Man with a Long Scarf
50 years ago some very clever people invented “Doctor Who.” 50 years later we still love it. On the occasion of the show’s golden anniversary, here’s our unabashed lovefest for the BBC’s most clever invention. Four American fans discuss how we discovered the show, our favorite Doctors and stories, and the unique and welcoming culture of sci-fi fandom.
Nov 21, 2013•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 169
168: A Different Kind of Sleeper Agent
Pick up the clicker and join us for our conversation about the new TV season. We talk ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, “Sleepy Hollow,” “The Blacklist,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Crazy Ones,” “The Michael J. Fox Show,” “Masters of Sex,” and also NBC’s “Dracula”—which we haven’t actually seen. Plus returning shows of note like “Parks and Recreation,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “How I Met Your Mother,” and “The Big Bang Theory.” We also talk about how exciting corporate synergy can be, Scott endors...
Nov 16, 2013•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 168
167: Space Wizard Musical
Old Movie Club returns! We look at three films from 1952: “Singin’ in the Rain,” “High Noon,” and Best Picture winner (!) “The Greatest Show on Earth.” One of these movies is not like the others. Plus: The haunting repetition of Tex Ritter! Charlton Heston’s commitment to the circus! And Phil asks Jason what it feels like to have no soul! Travel back 61 years in time and join us, won’t you?
Nov 09, 2013•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 167
166: I Assume Everyone is Awful
Awful people can make great art. Nice people can write bad books. Can you separate the creator from the art? We struggle with Orson Scott Card and his (rightfully) classic novel “Ender’s Game” and go on to list other writers and series who we’ve hand to break up with. To make things not entirely disappointing, we also talk about authors and series that have never let us down.
Nov 03, 2013•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 166
165: Grieving for My Left Thumb
In this episode we talk about two video games even non-gamers like Jason can enjoy, “Gone Home” and “Brothers.” We ponder what makes a game challenging, and if a game must be challenging to be good. John likes both games, but has a list of grievances. All disagreements will be settled with a duel of ’80s mixtapes at dawn! Plus: What other games are we playing?
Oct 29, 2013•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 165
164: Put In the Zom and Out Comes Com
Grab a pint and marinate your brain as we discuss the “Cornetto Trilogy,” three films by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright that are linked in theme if not in characters: “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” and recent release “The World’s End.” Why aren’t there more smart genre comedies? How do Pegg and Wright so deftly handle different genres? How are these movies like the Commedia dell’arte? Why do Jason and Jeff want to punch Nick Frost, then hug him? Plus, we give even more Incomparable love to “Space...
Oct 19, 2013•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 164
163: What If Galactus Was Made of Jello?
The winner of our iTunes review contest had us read John Birmingham’s “Weapons of Choice,” which our Book Club used as a jumping-off point to talk about alt-history novels, time travel, military SF, and a whole lot more. You don’t need to read the book to appreciate the episode! Plus: What are we reading?
Oct 11, 2013•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 163
162: Disintermediated Peep Shows
Live! From a (somewhat echoey, sorry) room in Portland Oregon, we talk about the exciting new world of Internet-aided content creation. How have sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo and even Amazon changed how people create and consume books, movies, TV shows, and music? And what’s the missing piece of this content revolution?
Oct 04, 2013•53 min•Ep. 162
161: Southern Skeleton
Bonus episode! Here’s an edited fourth installment of our Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Our heroes have made it inside a strange desert temple and have mostly not died… yet. But the night is young and the basins in this temple are full of an unknown magical fluid, so anything could happen!
Oct 01, 2013•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 161
160: Super-Secret Sony MiniDiscs
Take the red pill and enter “The Matrix,” 1999’s influential sci-fi/action classic. Why does Morpheus talk like a fortune cookie? Is Keanu’s woodenness an asset or detriment? Was skeuomorphism the fall of man? And if we accept that living things can be used as batteries, why wouldn’t the machines just use cows? Grad students, we are about to blow your minds. Whoa.
Sep 27, 2013•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 160
159: Full Shatner
We conclude the second Incomparable Film Festival with 21 more films we think are worth seeing, in fantasy draft format. Don’t miss the exciting Lightning Round, and stay tuned when it’s all over for our expert post-draft analysis! (Part 2 of 2.)
Sep 19, 2013•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 159
158: Peak Clooney
It’s time for the second Incomparable Film Festival! We pick 35 films that we think are worth seeing, in fantasy draft format. From horror to comedy to drama to sci-fi to kung-fu, we’ve got just about every genre covered. (Part 1 of 2.)
Sep 14, 2013•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 158
157: Bros and Arrows
An entire comic book about Hawkeye, the lesser Marvel superhero with a bow and arrow? Okay… this looks bad. But seriously, bro, this is one of the very best comics being published today. We cover the first two trade-paperback editions of Fraction and Aja’s series, including Lucky the Pizza Dog, 50 Shades of Purple, and how hooking up a laserdisc player is similar to defusing a bomb. Hop on board and join us—we’re great at boats.
Sep 07, 2013•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 157
156: Airline of Snitches
Special guest star Philip Michaels gives us an old-movie education with two caper movies from the 1950s, “The Lavender Hill Mob” and “The Killing.” One’s funny, one’s not, but both teach us that crime doesn’t pay! Plus young Stanley Kubrick, funnyman Alec Guinness, the second-greatest fight scene Steve has ever seen, and a guest appearance by General Eisenhower.
Aug 31, 2013•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 156
155: The Cat Who Listened to Podcasts
A boy with no name travels to the end of the lane and discovers how a pond can be an ocean in Neil Gaiman’s brief and wonderful novel “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.” Also Dan explains Jason’s perfect vacation, there’s lots of talk about cats, why David has issues with Old Yeller, and we talk about other Neil Gaiman works that we like.
Aug 24, 2013•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 155
154: Seahorse on Line One
Do you like stories, love, and life? Then even if you’re not a regular comic book reader, you should read “Saga,” by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. (Unless naked robot sex disturbs you, in which case you shouldn’t.) We cover the horns and the wings, bad connections on the interstellar cellphone network, seahorse agents, super space high school, a frog with a banjo, the wisdom of hiring a ghost as your babysitter, and much more.
Aug 17, 2013•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 154
153: Monkey with a Tinfoil Sandwich
Load your shotgun, put on your clear plastic suit, and climb into that suspiciously humming box! We’re here to talk about three very different time-travel movies: “12 Monkeys,” “Looper,” and “Primer.” Is “Crazy Brad Pitt” a thing? If you met a younger version of yourself, would you fight or cuddle? Why is the apocalypse like Philadelphia? Also something about a Weeble in a time machine, we didn’t really understand that part.
Aug 10, 2013•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 153
152: The Comic-Con Episode
Live! From San Diego County! It’s a podcast where Jason Snell, Steve Lutz, and Greg Knauss drink beer and talk about Comic-Con, a glut of too much good media, the pros and cons of wearing costumes, Adventure Time, Glenn’s health scare, and much more. It’s slightly tipsy and more than slightly rambling, but we hope you’ll crack a beverage of your own and join us for this cocktail party.
Aug 03, 2013•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 152
151: Not Technically Incest
Put on your red shirt, renew your blogging license, and swallow some alien bacteria! It’s time for our annual read of the five Hugo Award nominees for best novel. We liked some of them, we hated some of them, but we talked about all of them! But beware: The diabolical eyes of the Centers for Disease Control are watching us all.
Jul 27, 2013•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 151
150: I Look Forward to Ignoring Your Criticism
It’s our 150th episode! Since we don’t normally answer listener questions and read comments on the show, we’re devoting this episode to that very topic. We read your emails, your iTunes reviews, and your tweets, and announce a contest that will let one lucky listener choose the topic of a future episode. Are we too critical or not critical enough? Do we disagree too much or not enough? Plus: Why we’re not kidnapping Stephen Fry, a new magazine for apes, light eatage, and some Glenning.
Jul 21, 2013•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 150
149: Gleekless (A Superhero Draft)
The Incomparable’s Superhero Draft is now in session, and justice is on the clock! Hear our collection of panelists assemble several excellent super-teams. Who will inhabit the Hall of Justice? And why are Superman and Batman looking on forlornly? Are they just not team players? Take your Sharknado to the Evil Museum and ponder just why Iron Man might not be the hero you think he is.
Jul 13, 2013•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 149
148: Between Two Obelisks
Jason’s on vacation this week, so instead of a conventional episode, here’s an edited third installment of our Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Hot on the heels of the death of Eglath, our heroes step into the maelstrom and discover the secret of the stone temple on the other side. Also, is that a lobster? And who is that guy wearing a hat?
Jul 04, 2013•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 148
147: Space Fish
Though we were tempted to release this episode in eight 10-minute installments, we refrained. Our Book Club reconvenes to discuss John Scalzi’s novel “The Human Division,” which was initially released as a serial and later as a single-volume novel. Does the serialized format help or hurt? Is Scalzi’s return to his “Old Man’s War” universe a triumph? PLUS! We discuss all the short fiction nominated for the Hugo Award this year.
Jun 29, 2013•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 147
146: Bashing Two Action Figures Together
Quick! Before the planet is destroyed! Climb on your Kryptonian dragonfly-horse thing and join us to discuss “Man of Steel,” the first in a new cycle of Superman movies. We debate the talents of director Zack Snyder, question the movie artistically and as a calculated act of commerce, praise a lot of very good things about the movie, and complain a whole lot about gleeful destruction and the accompanying property damage.
Jun 21, 2013•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 146
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