John Siracusa and Jason Snell

Robot or Not?

Society EN ↓ 356 episodes

Jason Snell asks John Siracusa to rule on the meaning of various words and concepts. It’s not just about robots anymore. Have a question for John? Email robot@theincomparable.com.

Author

John Siracusa and Jason Snell

Category

Society

Podcast website

www.theincomparable.com

Latest episode

Jul 7, 2026

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Episodes

79: SpaceX 10.10.2016

Self-guided rockets and drone barges.

78: Hot Dogs 03.10.2016

They’re sure tasty, and it’s meat between bread, but are hot dogs sandwiches?

77: Daft Punk 26.09.2016

They sure look like robots. But who’s under the masks?

76: Animals in "Blade Runner" 19.09.2016

The owl and the snake from “Blade Runner” raise some interesting questions.

75: Bubo 12.09.2016

A little metal owl from “Clash of the Titans.” Crafted by the gods, can he possibly be a robot?

74: Gort 05.09.2016

The robot from “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, plus a long digression into Star Trek androids.

73: Cartoons 29.08.2016

Is all animation “cartoons”?

72: Robots from "Castle in the Sky" and "The Iron Giant" 22.08.2016

Two beloved metal creatures from animation.

71: RoboCop 15.08.2016

That “Robo” prefix is sure interesting, and he’s probably a cop, but…

70: The Robots of "Futurama" 08.08.2016

Bender, Calculon, and Hedonismbot.

69: Tron 01.08.2016

He fights for the users inside a computer. Can software people be robots?

68: Canadarm 25.07.2016

A fancy “robot arm” from Canada. But when is a robot arm just an arm, and when is it a robot?

67: Silicone Stingray 18.07.2016

Part animal, part machine. But is it a robot?

66: Traffic lights in South Africa 11.07.2016

Please obey robot.

65: Serena Williams 04.07.2016

It’s Wimbledon time, and so our discussion turns to tennis, and Serena Williams—who is not a robot, despite her perhaps wishing she was.

64: Rossum's Universal Robots 27.06.2016

Karel Capek’s play that made this podcast possible.

63: Animatronic Creatures 20.06.2016

The Country Bears, Chuck E. Cheese, and the things from Five Nights at Freddy’s.

62b: Filesystems and Flowerpot Robots 18.06.2016

Live from RelayCon WWDC 2016, it’s a special live edition of Robot or Not.

62: General Grievous 13.06.2016

He’s a droid with a cough. So what’s the deal?

61: Elevators 06.06.2016

They go up, they go down. They might even go sideways from time to time. And they can be smart. But are they robots?

60: Inspector Gadget 30.05.2016

Go go Gadget! Also we get off on a tangent about Penny, inspired by The Flop House.

59: The Doctor from "Star Trek: Voyager" 23.05.2016

Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Can a hologram be a robot?

58: Synths 16.05.2016

From the AMC TV series “Humans,” the lifelike Synths look like humans but don’t act like it. And they bleed a funny color.

57: Baymax 09.05.2016

He’s an inflatable, medical robot from “Big Hero 6”—but can you back up your personality and still be a robot?

56: The Incomparable's Logo 02.05.2016

Our own robot (or not) is in the spotlight at last.

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