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.

Listen inApple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Subscribe viaRSS Feed

Listen inPocket Casts

Listen inOvercast

Listen inCastro

Subscribe viaAndroid

Latest Episode: August 8, 2025 — Superhero Movie Draft

778 Oops! All Batman

Host Jason Snell with Andy Ihnatko, Chip Sudderth, James Thomson, Annette Wierstra, Tony Sindelar, Moisés Chiullán, and David J. Loehr

We celebrate the tenth anniversary of our Summer Superhero Spectacular tournament with something slightly different: A draft of our favorite superhero movies.

Read the show notes.

Previous Episodes

August 1, 2025 2025 Awards Book Club, part 3

777 The 44% Rule

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign, Aleen Simms, and Heather Berberet

2025 Awards Book Club nears the end with award nominees “Asunder,” “The Ministry of Time,” and “The Tainted Cup.” Plus: What else are we reading?
July 25, 2025 “Superman” (2025)

776 Next Stop Black Hole City

Host Jason Snell with Tony Sindelar, Dan Moren, Shannon Sudderth, Chip Sudderth, and Brian Warren

We went to the theater to see James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025) and are back to report about the pleasant experience. Gunn sets a new direction for DC superheroes, and fans of Zack Snyder may want to look elsewhere. From Krypto the Superdog to a surprising squirrel save, from The Marvelous Miss Lane to that Elemento guy, we’ll break the whole thing down.
July 18, 2025 “Das Boot” (1981)

775 Herring Salad

Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Brian Warren, Casey Liss, Dan Moren, and Philip Michaels

We remain submerged for a very long time to watch a very long film, 1981’s “Das Boot.” This certifiable classic is certainly long and German, encompassing almost everything you might expect in the genre. There’s action, suspense, a lot of character moments, and long periods of tedium spent listening for bad sounds, punctuated by moments of terror as the boat goes to eleven (and beyond).
July 11, 2025 “Run Silent, Run Deep” (1958)

774 A Very Photogenic Submarine

Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Philip Michaels, Shelly Brisbin, Dan Moren, and Casey Liss

The Summer of Submarines joins forces with Old Movie Club to take on 1958’s “Run Silent, Run Deep,” starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. It’s a tense thriller that has inspired sub and sci-fi movies for many decades. Erika’s gleeful reaction to the film’s abrupt ending may surprise you!
July 3, 2025 “Crimson Tide”

773 One Dog Is Too Many

Host Jason Snell with Philip Michaels, Lisa Schmeiser, Dan Moren, Casey Liss, and Erika Ensign

The summer of submarines kicks off with 1995’s “Crimson Tide,” a taut character drama that pits a captain (Gene Hackman) against his XO (Denzel Washington) in a conflict that escalates as global tensions rise outside their nuclear submarine.
June 27, 2025 “Love, Death + Robots”

772 The Compulsion of Art

Host Jason Snell with John Siracusa, Annette Wierstra, Brian Hamilton, and Tony Sindelar

With the guiding hand of Prof. Siracusa choosing the curriculum, we watch select animated shorts from the Netflix series “Love, Death + Robots.” John’s quest to find the perfect photorealistic CGI animation continues. Tony does his companions a solid if he’s ever killed on a moon. The others debate if they represent love, death, or robots. We try to reconnect with our inner pool-polishing robots. It’s a real team effort.
June 20, 2025 “Doctor Who” season 2 wrap-up

771 Nothing Can Kill Doctor Who

Host Jason Snell with Steven Schapansky, Erika Ensign, Chip Sudderth, Annette Wierstra, and Heather Berberet

The second (and final?) season of the BBC/Disney+ collaboration era of “Doctor Who” is at an end, and so our crew of fans is here to pick up the pieces and ponder what went right and (unfortunately) what went wrong. Where does this franchise go from here?
June 13, 2025 “The Wheel of Time” season 3

770 At the Time It Was Written

Host Moisés Chiullán with Sarah Hendrica Bickerton, Heather Berberet, Bryan Guffey, and Kathy Campbell

We conclude (for now?) our coverage of the TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time, which was just canceled by Amazon. Three seasons in, we cover whether we think it is still worth watching despite cancellation (we do) and how well the show’s third (and final?) season fulfills the promise of it coming into its power.
June 6, 2025 2025 Awards Book Club, part 2

769 Wrestle a Book

Host Jason Snell with Scott McNulty, Aleen Simms, and Erika Ensign

Our Awards Book Club continues its run through the roses with a tougher than expected review of Vajra Chandrasekera’s “Rakesfall,” Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Alien Clay,” and Kelly Link’s “The Book of Love.”
May 30, 2025 “Cronos” (1992)

768 Eternal Clockwork Bugs

Host Jason Snell with Steve Lutz, Moisés Chiullán, and Tony Sindelar

Guillermo del Toro’s career started small, with the small-scale vampire (sort of) horror (sort of?) movie “Cronos,” in which an old man finds a mechanical object containing a magical bug that gives him eternal life in the bad way. Meanwhile, young Ron Perlman hates his evil uncle but continues to do his bidding! It’s a fun 1992 throwback that is still recognizeably del Toro.

See All Episodes…