Octothorpe

122: Topical Pumpkin

John is on the periphery, Alison is carving, and Liz went to Japan.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: con artistry, privilege, racism

• Letters of comment
  • Jake Casella Brookins
    • Sankey diagrams on the Ancillary Review of Books
  • Ali Baker Brooks
    • I’m a Fan of That
  • Christopher J Garcia
  • Emily January
  • Kat Kourbeti
    • SH@25 is a new, year-long interview and feature series that will delve into the archives, celebrate the work of past contributors and staff, and highlight the contributions of Strange Horizons to SFF publishing and the wider community.
  • Caroline Mullan
  • Zoe O’Connell
  • Roman Orszanski
    • Booking flights on a phone
• Awards
  • World Fantasy Awards
  • The Kitschies
  • Ursula K LeGuin award
    • Strange Horizons review in two parts: one, two
• Oghenochovwe Donald Ekpeki
  • Erin Cairns has reported that Ekpeki stole a story and passed it off as his own
    • On Bluesky
    • On Google Drive
    • File 770 report
  • Cairns tried to sound this alarm on X in June
  • Reactions
    • Gautam Bhatia
    • L D Lewis (requires Bluesky login)
  • Ekpeki’s response
  • Jason Sanford talks about his reaction to the news: one, two
• Picks
  • John: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
  • Alison: Bridge Command
    • Alison was given free tickets by the venue’s PR team
  • Liz: Japan
    • Neat effects like Tokyo Disneyland’s Pepper’s ghost or Shiriki Utundu
    • Liz was not given free tickets but if anyone wants to give me free tickets to Disney parks please get in touch
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Octothorpe, Octothorpe, Octothorpe” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A pumpkin carved with an image of Beetlejuice, with the words “Episode 122” at the top of the image and “Octothorpe, Octothorpe, Octothorpe” at the bottom.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

121: All About the Vibes

John, Alison and Liz read Grass by Sheri S Tepper.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Rape, consensual interspecies sex, murder, classism, plague/disease

• Adam Roberts’ review of Grass
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Three Little Hippae” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three hippae stand on a landscape of alien grass and plants in blue, purple, red, teal, and orange underneath a pinkish sky. The words “Octothorpe 121” appear at the top and the words “Grass Sheri S Tepper” appear at the bottom.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

120: Activate Liz

John does a funny voice, Alison recoils, and Liz loves big stats and she cannot lie.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Death (chapter 5)

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Chris Garcia
    • Alison closing a parenthesis
  • Emily January
  • España Sheriff
  • Farah Mendlesohn
  • Ivan Sinha
  • Nicholas Whyte
    • Upcoming eclipses
  • Tammy Coxen
• 2024 Hugo Voting Statistics
  • 2024 Sankey diagrams
  • 2020 Sankey diagrams
• Picks
  • John: The Substance
    • Definitely not Subterranea
  • Alison: UFO 50
  • Liz: Alien Clay
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Judge Coxon” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Words read ‘Octothorpe 120: Introducing Judge Coxon. “I am the lore”’. They are around a picture of John as a Judge in the style of 2000AD, holding a big stack of books. The logo of the Clarke Award may or may not appear in the artwork.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

119: Only One of Them Is My Bludgeoning Hand, John

John is not assigning blame, Alison is someone, and Liz is bludgeoning.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky or on Instagram) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Sexual assault (Neil Gaiman allegations, at 39:28 to 42:02).

• Letters of comment
  • Niall Harrison
  • On our Hugo win/recusing
    • Andy on Mastodon
    • Chris Garcia
    • Meg MacDonald
    • Perianne Lurie
    • Renay
    • Sandra Bond’s poem
  • On info desk and maps
    • Alan Fleming
    • Doug Faunt
    • Peter Sullivan
  • On communications
    • Chris Garcia
    • Duncan MacGregor on Mastodon
  • On WSFS Business Meeting
    • June Young (email, 9 September)
    • Chris Garcia (email, 29 August)
      • Martin Freeman circa 2001
      • Post from Nicholas Whyte on consultative vote
    • DC on Mastodon
    • Duncan MacGregor on Mastodon
    • Raj on Mastodon
    • Our brand is now WSFS Commentators and people like it?
    • Laurie Burchell
  • On Worldcon attendance numbers
    • Tero on Mastodon
    • aoanla on Mastodon
  • Miscellaneous
    • Hugo finalists: Raj on Mastodon
    • Programme: aoanla on Mastodon
    • Back to Our Futures
  • We also heard from:
    • Ali Baker Brooks, Angela Rosin, Catherine Pickersgill, Curt Phillips, Damien Warman, Dave Coxon, España Sheriff, Farah Mendlesohn, Fiona Moore, Fran Dowd, Gav Reads, Iain Clark, Jonathan Baddeley, Julie Faith McMurray, Karen Schaffer, Leigh Edmonds, Lilian Edwards, Malcolm Hutchison, Mike Scott, Neil Ottenstein, Phil Dyson, Roseanna Pendlebury, Trish
• Neil Gaiman
  • File 770
  • Genre Grapevine
  • Elise Matthesen on Dreamwidth
  • The Guardian
  • Theremina on Patreon
• Future Worldcons
  • Seattle 2025
    • Seattle is having a Poetry Hugo
    • Seattle has announced a judged film festival
  • LAcon V looks good
    • Good guests
    • “The LA in 2026 bid received 452 out of 531 votes cast.”
  • Tel Aviv in 2027
  • Brisbane in 2028
• The latest episode of FANAC History Zoom is “The secret history of Plokta”, with Steve Davies, Sue Mason, Alison Scott, and Mike Scott
• Picks
  • John: Alien: Romulus
  • Alison: KAOS
  • Liz: Control
• Credits
  • Cover art: “We got a lot of letters” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A famous photograph of Margaret Hamilton standing beside printed outputs of the code that took the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon, overlaid with the words “Octothorpe 119” and “Our Listeners Write In”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

118: Och Aye, Sci-Fi

John is savage, Alison hates paper, and Liz likes stationery.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: harsh criticism (Publications), racism (Picks)

• Glasgow wants your feedback on Facebook
• Worldcon photography
  • Glasgow 2024 photographs on Flickr
  • Andrew Hogg: Noted Fan Artist
  • Andy Openshaw’s photo on BlueSky
• Halls 4 and 5
  • Staples
  • WOOF
  • In Memoriam
  • Boris the Spider
  • John’s Swag
• Communications
  • Join fancon.dev on Discord
• Picks
  • John: The Acolyte
  • Alison: Nimona
  • Liz: The Case of the Golden Idol
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Armadillo Pins” by Sara Felix (lettering by Alison Scott)
    • Alt text: Three pins of armadillos flying colourful spaceships are on top of a piece of paper with blobs of glue that look like planets. The lettering “Octothorpe 118” appears above in a similar style to the pins.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

117: You Made That Joke Last Time, John

John liked the entertainment, Alison didn’t queue, and Liz wanted soup.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Doug Faunt
  • Renay
    • We are recusing for at least the 2025 Hugos
    • Renay is known for Lady Business and the Hugo Award Spreadsheet of Doom
  • ULTIMAFAX on YouTube:
    • “Allison [sic] looks exactly like she sounds lol. john does not”
• Fancast recommendations:
  • Stitch and Bitch by Kalanadi
  • FANAC Fan History by Joe Siclari and Edie Stern
  • Hugo, Girl! by Lori, Haley and Amy 🥰
• The Godzilla Minus One eligibility extension was voted down
• Queue entertainment
  • Cardinal Cox
  • The Quest NPC
• The Long List of World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons)
• Glasgow 2024
  • Back to Our Futures
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Hugo Evolution” by Iain J Clark (arranged by Alison Scott)
    • Alt text: Three photographs dominate the centre of the image. The left-hand photograph is of a prototype Hugo made of rough wood and cardboard; the centre photograph is of a rough-ish wood base and tin foil rocket but with the actual acrylic and etching, and the right-hand photograph is of the finished Hugo Award. Text below the photos reads “protoprototype”, “prototype”, and “2024 Hugo”. Above, the words “Octothorpe 117” appear.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

116: I’m Not Absolutely Sure I Voted

John, Alison and Liz have won Hugo Awards.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: It’s a live recording!

• Credits
  • Cover art: “Octothorpe and Others” by Simon Bubb (CC BY-NC 2.0)
    • Alt text: John, Liz and Alison (I know, listener, I know) are looking off to the right holding their Hugo Awards as people take photographs of them on the stage at the SEC Armadillo.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

115: I Like the Way Glasgow Did It

John is a busy bee, something’s bugging Alison, and Liz meets a wasp.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Vote rigging and bureaucracy.

• Glasgow programme
  • Saturday, 11:30: “Table talk: Octothorpe Podcast”
  • Monday, 11:30: “Live Podcast: Octothorpe”
  • John:
    • Friday, 14:30: “Ahsoka: Fusing Clone Wars, Rebels and Heir to the Empire”
    • Monday, 13:00: “Safety Tools for Tabletop Roleplaying Games”
  • Alison:
    • Friday, 10:00: “The Difficult Second Album”
    • Friday, 13:00: “Let’s Create the Glasgow 2024 Fanzine – Kick Off Session”
    • Friday, 17:30: “Pure Dead Brilliant History of Scottish Fanzines”
    • Saturday, 13:00: “The League of Extraordinary Fanzine Covers”
    • Saturday, 20:30: “Fan Funds Auction”
  • Liz:
    • Nothing because she’s saving herself just for you, listeners 💜
• Glasgow Discord
  • Access is through the members’ portal
• 377 votes have been disqualified from the Hugo Awards due to ballot stuffing
  • File 770’s report
• The Business Meeting agenda has been published
  • Chris Garcia’s in-depth dive into the agenda is at Claims Department #74
  • Nicholas Whyte’s thoughts are on From the Heart of Europe
  • In the order we discussed them:
    • The “don’t do that Dave” resolutions (C1, 3–4): we are in favour
    • Changes to the Business Meeting (D9, F14–15): we are in favour of D9 and F14, and against F15
    • Independent film Hugo Award categories (E7): we are against ratification
      • Consultative vote on the indie film category
    • Extended eligibility for movies (D1–7):
      • We are in favour of Conann, Lovely, Dark and Deep, Mars Express, Tiger Stripes, and Mollie and Max in the Future
      • We oppose The Boy and the Heron and Godzilla Minus One
        • The Boy and the Heron: released 8 December on 2,325 screens, made $35mn in 2023
        • Godzilla Minus One: released 1 December on 2,622 screens, made $45mn in 2023
        • Poor Things: released 8 December on 2,300 screens, made $10mn in 2023
    • Changes to the Hugo Awards (D10, F5–9, F11): we are in favour of D10 and F5 (with tweaks), we are against F6–8, and we are a bit nuanced (sorry) on F9 and F11
      • WSFA
        • Glasgow has ~8,400 WSFS members, WSFS membership is £45, so 5% is ~£18k
    • Censure resolutions and apology resolutions (D11–14, F16): we are in favour of making it clear that WSFS does not condone what happened in Chengdu
      • Here are links to the text of the two redacted resolutions
        • D11 Statement of Values for Transparency and Fair Treatment
        • D12 Chengdu Censure (the middle of the three on this page)
    • WSFS memberships and whatnot (F1–2): we oppose consideration, but we are broadly in favour of the concepts
    • WSFS marks (F3–4): we are in favour
      • c.f. our discussion of Kevin Standlee’s foot in his mouth on Episode 103
    • Software Advisory Committee (F10): we oppose consideration
    • Site selection changes (F12–13): we oppose consideration, and also oppose F12, and we think F13 might need a committee
    • A grab bag (F17–20): we oppose consideration
      • Some of this stuff matters but it shouldn’t get debated this year
    • Ratifications:
      • We didn’t think that all of them were worth discussing, so you can assume we’re in favour/ambivalent of the ones we don’t discuss (unless we forgot one that’s very heinous)
      • Bid committee contact details (E5): we are in favour
      • Voter contact details (E6): we are against
      • Independent film Hugo Award categories (E7): we are against (but we discussed this above)
      • Fancast compensation (E9): we are nuanced, we don’t want professionals to be in Fancast, but we’re not sure what this amendment does that helps
      • Eligibility (E10) and ASFiC (E12): we are in favour of the Worldcon becoming more international, but we are against these ratifications specifically
• Credits
  • Cover art: “All the Popcorn” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A giant stripy purple bucket of popcorn on a cinema screen says “Octothorpe 115 WSFS Special”, and John, Alison and Liz sit in the audience, silhouetted in the style of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. John is saying “We’re gonna need a bigger box of popcorn.”
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

114: Tastemaker Batty

John, Alison, and Liz discuss what they’re voting for in the Hugo Awards.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode:

• Letters of comment
  • Ali Baker Brooks
  • Bridget Bradshaw
  • Chris Garcia
  • Colette Reap
  • Duncan MacGregor
  • Edward Morlund
  • Farah Mendlesohn
  • Mike Scott
  • Raj
    • Fantasy Book Swap
      • Alison Scott, Marianne Dreams and Tamarind and the Star of Ishta
      • ”More funny than Thomas Hardy”: John Coxon, Rebecca‘s World and Flora & Ulysses
• Hugo Awards:
  • Novella
  • Novelette
  • Short story
    • ”Gathered in Translation” by Ken Liu
    • “Disconnected Tales: Contrasting Ken Liu’s Original and Translated Works” by Stephanie Gao
  • Series
  • Graphic Story or Comic
  • Best Related Work
  • Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
  • Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
  • Fan Categories
    • The Midnight Pals that made Liz laugh
• Picks
  • John: Star Wars: Jedi: Survivor
  • Alison: Cinco Paus by Michael Brough
  • Liz: No pick
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Worldcon Community Group Bingo Card” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: ”Octothorpe 114” is at the top, and the word ”Octothorpe” is written on a series of lottery balls. Below that, a bingo card, and below that, the words ”Worldcon Community Group Bingo Card". The items on the card are as follows:
      • Can I convert pounds to Scottish money?
      • Does anyone have any opinions on…?
      • Do you know my Scottish cousin?
      • This list is too long to read so can someone…
      • Is the programme out yet?
      • Can I swim in the Clyde?
      • Can I visit Stonehenge for the day?
      • Asks question answered in PR5
      • Does Glasgow Zoo have live haggis?
      • Volunteering is the best way to have fun
      • What’s with all the armadillos?
      • Shouldn’t the subway be a Digital Orange now?
      • Free!
      • Is the con organising an aurora viewing?
      • Is it too late to get on the programme?
      • Will Nessie be doing a signing?
      • Mention of Glasgow, England
      • Can anyone go to the Hugo Awards?
      • Why don’t we do this the way we did in 1956?
      • Can I fly from Glasgow to Edinburgh?
      • Will there be any authors there?
      • Can I bring my Emotional Support Moose?
      • Are tartan and/or kilts compulsory?
      • What I reckon…
      • Mention of deep-fried Mars Bar
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

113: I Realised Too Late What I Had Done

John is doing Discord, Liz is doing programme, and Alison isn’t working on the Worldcon.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Karen Schaffer
    • Peach and bourbon pie
  • Chris Garcia
  • Peter Sullivan
  • Kat Kourbeti
  • Facebook
    • Farah Mendlesohn
    • Mike Scott
      • The Great Paladin Hunt by Mike Brunton
    • Malcolm Hutchison
    • Jonny Baddeley
• Glasgow 2024
  • Glasgow 2024 Worldcon Community Group on Facebook
  • Cerebus
    • Humble Bundle
    • Reviews by Tom Ewing
  • Why is Alison collecting a big pile of con badges?
    • The Streisand Effect
      • (I know I got it slightly wrong in the episode!)
• Awards
  • 2024 Locus Award winners
  • 2024 Nebula Award winners
• Antipodes
  • Brisbane in 2028
    • File 770 report (with details of their socials/mailing list)
    • Worldcon 1939
    • Minneapolis in 2073: Progress Report 11
    • Torched by Alissa Walker
  • Continuity 2024
    • The 2024 New Zealand NatCon
    • John spent ages assuming that the above was just the online portal, but it is in fact the convention website
    • There is some backstory on this at SFFANZ
• Picks
  • John: Alan Wake 2
    • Saga Anderson’s sweater
    • I didn’t mention it on the podcast at all and it’s just for you, the show note reader, but I was watching this sketch when I was waiting for Alison and Liz this morning: ”Beavis and Butt-Head” from SNL
  • Alison: Animal Well
  • Liz: Will Anderson’s YouTube channel about Scrabble
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Massive Lizard” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three stick figures run from Godzilla, who is depicted in the style of Godzilla Minus One. The words “Octothorpe 113” used to be at the top of the art, but Godzilla has knocked off the letters “O C T O”, is holding “H”, and is trying to eat “T”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)