The Incomparable Mothership

It’s one of the best “Star Trek” movies, a classic Dad Movie, and the start of a franchise that never really started. It’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” in which oceans have become battlefields and privateer ships lurk like horror-movie monsters. Don’t get attached to any of those nice young sailors!

"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"

Host Jason Snell with Steven Schapansky, Philip Michaels, and Brian Warren.

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Non-linearly begin and end your journey across a wide range of cursed islands! We discuss Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a film now in theatres and a story that’s (nearly) 3,000 years old! Pig sculpting! Lotus eating! Horrible horse hiding! Were we the sea people all along? That’s a tale as old as time.

”The Odyssey”

Host Jason Snell with Brian Warren, Glenn Fleishman, Kathy Campbell, and Moisés Chiullán.

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Our awards shortlist book club rolls on with a selection of books we’re much more receptive to: “A Drop of Corruption” by Robert Jackson Bennett, “The Raven Scholar” by Antonia Hodgson, and The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow.

2026 Awards Book Club, Part 3

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

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What if “The Martian” but with an alien buddy? We break down “Project Hail Mary,” and marvel at what a good translation of a sort-of-unfilmable book it really is! Why do we love alien puppets so much? Why is Jason checking his watch at the end? We give this movie a thumbs down—by which we mean we liked it! Amaze amaze amaze!

"Project Hail Mary"

Host Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Quinn Rose, Brian Warren, and Casey Liss.

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Get out your PowerBooks and prepare to punch an alien in patriotic fashion! We celebrate Independence Day with a 30-year-old film, “Independence Day”! It’s a lot of movie. Is Jason ready to forgive it?

"Independence Day" (1996)

Host Jason Snell with Moisés Chiullán, David J. Loehr, Aleen Simms, and Tony Sindelar.

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We combine our love of “Star Trek” with the appreciation for old movies that can only be provided by our sister podcast Lions, Towers, and Shields, by drafting “Star Trek” actors (TOS and TNG only) and the movie roles we loved before they appeared on Star Trek!

And be sure to listen to this summer’s LTS’s Star Trek summer event.

Star Trek Movie crossover draft

Host Jason Snell with Shelly Brisbin, Micheline Maynard, Cicero Holmes, and David J. Loehr.

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William Gibson Book Club reconvenes to close out the legendary Sprawl trilogy with “Mona Lisa Overdrive,” a book in which there are lots of vibes from a lot of people who are secondary characters in a story being driven by an AI that we never really meet. Robot art projects! Many overlapping jackets, none of them the same size! And a car ride to… the future?! We break it all down.

"Mona Lisa Overdrive"

Host Jason Snell with Antony Johnston, Erika Ensign, Lisa Schmeiser, and Glenn Fleishman.

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Get behind your typewriters! Old Movie Club follows the money to discuss 1976’s “All The President’s Men,” in which the power of dogged reportage and journalistic freedom triumphs over the banality of evil.

"All the President's Men"

Host Jason Snell with Philip Michaels, Shelly Brisbin, Micheline Maynard, Steven Schapansky, Dr. Drang, and Jean MacDonald.

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Our survey of award-nominated novels rolls on with “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” “When We Were Real,” and “Sour Cherry.” Not gonna lie: we’re struggling with the reading a bit this year. But at least one of these novels threw us a lifeline.

2026 Awards Book Club, part 2

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

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.

We went out to the movies to see “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the first “Star Wars” film this decade. We had a really good time, thanks in large part to the charisma of many different puppets. (This is “Star Wars,” after all.) We aren’t without our criticisms—Is there ever really any danger? What is Sigourney Weaver doing?—but all in all, this film filled a Star Wars-shaped hole in our hearts.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu"

Host Jason Snell with Erika Ensign, Steven Schapansky, Helene Wecker, Moisés Chiullán, Dan Moren, and Brian Warren.

Support this show and other shows like it on The Incomparable network by becoming a member. Members get early access to podcasts, bonus episodes, and more.