The Incomparable Mothership

For Halloween we watched a… not particularly spooky movie. It’s the 30-year-old supernatural comedy “The Frighteners,” starring Michael J. Fox and directed by Peter Jackson, who was about to embark on making many “Lord of the Rings” movies. We are not sure we see the connection! But this movie… is not normal. Who is the target audience? Why does Jeffrey Combs appear, mid-film, combing it up at 100%? How many ghosts of loved ones would you want at your hot date at the Medieval Times? We have lots of questions, but very few answers!

"The Frighteners" (1996)

Host Jason Snell with Monty Ashley, Tiff Arment, and Steve Lutz.

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Put on your shin guards and get out on the pitch, because we’re tackling the return of “Ted Lasso” for a fourth season after it seemingly ended with season 3! What did we think of the new story arcs? Was the villain obvious and did it matter? Is Roy Kent the Fonzie of “Ted Lasso?” Follow the money.

"Ted Lasso" season 4

Host Jason Snell with Chip Sudderth, Erika Ensign, Kathy Campbell, Moisés Chiullán, Casey Liss, and Brian Warren.

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In Jason’s absence, Shelly indulges her fondness for disaster movies, a genre that peaked in the 1970s. And what better way to revel in disaster than with a draft? From shipwrecks to nuclear war to runaway planes and trains, we’ve got you covered in cinematic mayhem. There’s even a zeppelin.

Disaster Movie Draft!

Host Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr, Monty Ashley, and Micheline Maynard.

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Inhale deeply of the intoxicating gases and get ready to discuss the “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” season gone by. Our panel of puppets, “Casablanca” characters, badmirals, and high fantasy types have opinions on the genre-shifting penultimate season. Too much Kirk, or just enough? What’s up with La’an’s journey? Beam us up, Scotty, but only if you’re not still experimenting with the transporter…

"Strange New Worlds" season 4

Host Jason Snell with Dan Moren, Erika Ensign, Moisés Chiullán, and Shelly Brisbin.

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Helene Wecker’s third Golem and Jinni novel, The Gates of Midnight, is now available! Jason asks her about her multi-decade journey to get to the end of the trilogy, how research has changed along the way, the themes of the three books, and what she might do next.

"The Gates of Midnight"

Host Jason Snell with Helene Wecker.

(There are some mild thematic spoilers for the final book in the trilogy, but nothing too bad!)

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Once a subcategory for mysteries, “cozy” feels like the latest craze in publishing with every genre getting in on the act. Is it really a new thing? Are authors able to take sci-fi or horror and turn it into something to be read while cuddled into a warm blanket with a cup of tea at one’s elbow? Our panel discusses what makes a piece of media cozy, drafts a few books (sometimes with media tie-ins), and then throws it open to anything that gives us that cozy feeling. David includes tea pairings with his choices and Antony tells us how he ended up writing a cozy mystery series.

Cozy Draft

Host Shannon Sudderth with Antony Johnston, Annette Wierstra, Shelly Brisbin, David J. Loehr, and James Thomson.

Antony’s rec list of fellow cozy authors:

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The Summer of Sundance comes to an end with “The Natural,” a story of a legendary baseball player—no, we’re not talking about Joe Don Baker as The Whammer, or are we? It’s Bernard Malamud’s take on baseball as American mythology, filtered through the mind of Barry Levinson. Barbara Hershey shocks and confuses, Glenn Close glows, Wilford Brimley is very old and near retirement despite being younger than us, and Robert Redford is so versatile he can play a teenager and a man in his mid-thirties despite being in his late forties.

"The Natural"

Host Jason Snell with Philip Michaels, Micheline Maynard, John Siracusa, and David J. Loehr.

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The Summer of Sundance continues with the paranoid thriller, “Three Days of the Condor.” A devastatingly handsome nerd goes out to buy sandwiches for the office, and the next thing he knows he’s on the run and kidnapping Faye Dunaway…

"Three Days of the Condor"

Host Jason Snell with David J. Loehr, Shelly Brisbin, Paul Weimer, Glenn Fleishman, and Dan Moren.

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Now the curtain is going up, “The Sting” is starting the show! Snappy patter and jokes, along with the star power of Robert Redford and Paul Newman, drive this story of an elaborate con that goes right—or does it?! Also there’s a lot of Scott Joplin music.

"The Sting"

Host Jason Snell with Micheline Maynard, Dr. Drang, Monty Ashley, and David J. Loehr.

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Eleven books later, our Awards Book Club has finally reached the end of the line. In this episode we cover our last uncovered book, “Shroud” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, recommend some Hugo-nominated short fiction, and rank all eleven books. Plus: What are we reading other than shortlisted novels?! See you next year.

2026 Awards Book Club, final chapter

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

What are we reading?

The Incomparable Book Club Awards final rankings

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