Transform a list within within a column to a df indicating membership of each thing

explode_list.py

import pandas as pd
# Data
data = [['T1', ['Round', 'Red']],
       ['T2', ['Round', 'Green']],
       ['T3', None],
       ['T4', ['Square']]]
# Make dataframe and set index
df = pd.DataFrame(data, columns=['thing', 'desc']).set_index('thing')
# "Explode" list
exploded = df.desc.apply(pd.Series)
# Stack all options (this is melting, but does for all columns->Series)
stacked = exploded.stack().reset_index('thing', name='values')
# Indicate what's present
stacked['present'] = True
# Pivot (all things that are present will be True, everything else will be NaN) and fill nulls with False
stacked.pivot('thing', 'values', 'present').fillna(False)

Output

values	Green	Red	Round	Square
thing
T1	False	True	True	False
T2	True	False	True	False
T4	False	False	False	True