Octothorpe

147: What? What?! No!

John is ready, Alison had forgotten, and Liz is surprised.

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Animal torture (letters of comment)

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  • Ed Morland (BlueSky)
  • Farah Mendlesohn (Facebook)
    • Pictcon 2026: PictCon 2 in Perth, 17 October
  • Finbarr O’Reilly (email)
  • Kev McVeigh (Facebook)
  • Kin-Ming Looi (Facebook)
  • Paul Weimer (BlueSky, email)
  • Tammy Coxen (Facebook)
  • Terry Gibbs (Facebook)
  • Raj (Mastodon)
  • We also heard from Mike Scott, Neil Ottenstein and Tammy Coxen
• 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach on the red carpet
  • Event broadcast on YouTube
• LAcon V opens Hugo Awards Base Contest
• 36th Galaxy Awards
  • Roderick Leeuwenhart
• Tianwen Awards
  • Ersatz Culture on Mastodon
• BKK Comics Art Festival #4
  • The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF
  • Belgian comics
• Asian Board Games Festival (ABGF)
  • “Walking The Walk With RPGs In Malaysia” (paywalled on Rascal)
• Picks
  • John: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
    • Shut Up & Sit Down’s review
    • Board Game Arena
    • The dice tower
  • Alison: The Word for World exhibition at the Architectural Association
    • Secret Maps at the British Library
  • Liz: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
• Star Wars is being properly remastered?
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Nepal Spotter’s Guide” by Paul Weimer (text by Alison Scott)
    • Alt text: A photograph of the mountains of Nepal with text overlaid, reading “Octothorpe 147 Official Octothorpe Nepal Identification Guide* (*apparently never gets old)** (** Liz might like to go to a comics con there)”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

146: It Winds Me Up Something Chronic

John is on holiday, Alison said she’d have T-shirts ready, and Liz is back!

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Doug Faunt (Facebook)
    • Corflu 2026: Corflu Pickled in Santa Rosa, CA, USA
  • Ian Hillman (DM)
  • Jonny Baddeley (Facebook)
• Eastercon 2026: Iridescence in Birmingham
  • Hotels are open: Check your emails for the link
  • Merch should be available by the time you read this
    •  
  • Bursaries are open for applications, deadline of 31 October
  • The volunteer form is open
  • Haruhicon 2026: Birmingham
  • Carrots, vitamin A, radar, and British propaganda
• BristolCon 2025
• World Fantasy Con 2025: Brighton
• Armadacon 2025: Plymouth
  • British Firework Championships
• Novacon 2025: Novacon 54 in Buxton
• Pictcon 2025: Pictcon1 in Perth
• Satellite 2026: Satellite 9 in Glasgow
• Worldcon finances
  • Worldcon 2013: LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, TX, USA
  • Worldcon 2015: Sasquan in Spokane, WA, USA
  • Worldcon 2016: MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City, MO, USA
  • Worldcon 2020: CoNZealand in Wellington, New Zealand (but mostly online)
  • Worldcon 2023: Chengdu, China
  • Worldcon 2024: Glasgow, UK
    • Smofcon 2025: Smofcon 42 in Stockholm, Sweden
• Picks
  • John: Tactical Breach Wizards
  • Alison: Here East
    • Conrad Shawcross – Umbilical (The Nervous System)
    • V&A East Storehouse
  • Liz: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Treasures of the V&A Storehouse” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: The Torrijos Ceiling at the Victoria & Albert East Storehouse. An elaborate, gilded and octagonal ceiling. Why yes, Alison has a new phone, how could you tell?
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

145: James Bacon and His Enthusiasms

John might, Alison won’t, and Tommy would (in a heartbeat).

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Animal torture (aftershow)

• Letters of comment
  • Brian Nisbet (Bluesky)
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  • Jonathan Baddeley (Facebook)
  • Paul Weimer (Bluesky)
  • Scott Edelman (Bluesky)
  • Tommy Ferguson (email)
  • We also heard from Caroline Mullan, DC, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, and Neil Ottenstein
• Octocon 2025 in Dublin
• Tommy’s fanzines:
  • TommyWorld
  • Götterdämmerung
  • Götterdämmerung Redux
• Prolapse’s issue for Irish Fandom Day
  • James Bacon’s article on the fan history starts on page 5!
• Corflu 2023 in Belfast: Corflu Craic
  • Corflu Craic’s programme book
    • Including the con report of the Leeds Corflu that Tommy mentions
  • Marcin Kłak’s con report
• Eastercon 2025 in Belfast: Reconnect
  • Eastercon 1986 in Glasgow: Albacon III
  • Previous Belfast conventions:
    • Nicon
    • MeCon
    • TitanCon
  • Replay is not quiiiiite ready yet, sorry listeners, it’ll be there soon!
• Pictcon 1 in Perth (8 November 2025)
• Novacon 54 in Buxton (7–9 November 2025)
• Norncon 2026 in Belfast (8–9 May)
  • GoHs: Anna Smith Spark and Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • The Norn Scene from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
• Eastercon 2027 in Glasgow: Unconfined
  • Tommy is working on Communications
• Worldcon bid for 2029 in Dublin
• Picks
  • John: Spirit Island
    • App Store
    • Steam
  • Alison: Strong Message Here
  • Tommy: Sleeper Beach by Nick Harkaway
    • The sequel to Titanium Noir
    • Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Norns Weaving the Rope of Fate” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: John, Alison and Tommy are weaving ropes of fate as norns. The ropes lead to little spools, above their heads, reminiscent of a sculpture called Umbilical by Conrad Shawcross which Alison will explain in more detail in Octothorpe 146. The words “Octothorpe 145” appear at the top, and “Looking forward to Norncon” at the bottom.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

144: I Have Opinions on Women

John, Alison and Liz watch Dredd (2012).

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Justice.

• Things that happened since we recorded:
  • Going Rogue released an episode about Dredd
  • Taika Waititi is making a Judge Dredd movie
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Judge Coxon Pain Scale” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Six cartoons of John as a Judge from MegaCity One with the Clarke Award logo on his helmet, all of which are identical. Beneath them follows text. 0: NO HURT. 1: HURTS A LITTLE. 2: JUST A FLESH WOUND. 3: MINOR GUNSHOT. 4: BULLET THROUGH GUT. 5: FALL OFF SKYSCRAPER. The JUDGE COXON Pain Scale™. The words “Octothorpe 144” appear at the top of the cover.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

143: A Major Movie in the Sand Genre

John skips leg day, Alison skips art day, and Liz skips opinions.

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Alan Fleming & David Bamford (email)
    • Eastercon 2027: Unconfined in Glasgow
  • Christopher J Garcia (email)
  • Doug Faunt (Facebook)
  • Fredrik Coulter (Facebook)
  • Jake Casella Brookins (email)
  • Jesi Lipp (Facebook)
  • Meg MacDonald (Facebook)
  • Paul Weimer (Bluesky)
  • Raj (Bluesky)
  • Sari Polvinen (email)
  • Shi Lala (Facebook)
• Next episode, we are going to watch Dredd!
• 2025 Worldcon: Seattle
  • Seattle apologised after we recorded
  • The Hugo Awards longlist is now out!
  • Donald E Eastlake III at the MPC
• 2026 Worldcon: LAcon V in Los Angeles
  • ‪Weyodi OldBear‬: first post, second post
  • Apology from the chair
• 2027 Worldcon: Montréal
  • Old bid site
  • Jeph Jacques’s Questionable Content
• Picks
  • John: FlickFleet
    • Eurydice Games
  • Alison: Slay the Spire again
  • Liz: Luminous by Sylvia Park
    • “More Real Than Him”
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Inside Coverage” by Arthur Thomson
    • Alt text: An abstract, geometric figure stands, their torso through a panel which has various trailing wires. There is a radio or walkie talkie on the floor and a textured background which is also geometric. The words “Octothorpe 143” appear at the top, “Walt Willis” appear at the right, and “Inside Coverage” appear at the bottom.
    • Explanation: This is a previously unused piece of art by Atom (Arthur Thomson), originally intended for a Walt Willis column in Hyphen that never happened. Alison wants to use it as an Octothorpe cover to make Atom eligible for Best Fanzine Cover in the FAAn awards. Except, you know, not.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

142: A Lot of Double-Sided Bra Tape

John is going to have lunch, Lori is going to brunch, and Liz is not hungry?

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Mispronounced names (chapter 4), class structures (chapter 7)

• Worldcon 2025: Seattle
  • Hugo Awards
    • The ceremony
      • Pronunciations
      • Grigory Lukin
      • Nisi Shawl on Bluesky: first, second
      • K Tempest Bradford on X in 2020: first, second
      • K Tempest Bradford on Bluesky
    • The winners
    • Billy on the Street
      • “For a dollar, name a woman!”
    • Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
• Worldcon 2030: Edmonton bid
• Picks
  • John: The Sentence by Gautam Bhatia
    • The Wall and The Horizon
    • Andrew Openshaw’s review
  • Lori: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
  • Liz: The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Ceremony Script Revealed” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A picture of a book entitled “Hugo Award Pronunciation Guide” written by George R R Martin. The cover design is in the style of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, with an Iron Throne made of Hugo Awards. The words “Octothorpe 142” are at the top in a Game of Thrones-y typeface.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

141: A Whole Episode Without Business Meeting Content

John is worried, Alison volunteers, and Liz is warm.

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Hurley (email)
  • Dave O’Neill (Bluesky, DM)
  • Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
  • Jesi Lipp (email, Facebook)
  • John Hertz (typewritten letter with pasted image from File 770 scanned by Fedex and sent by email)
  • Mike Glyer (email)
  • Neil Ottenstein (Facebook)
  • Nicholas Whyte (email)
  • Nuala (Bluesky)
  • Paul Weimer (Bluesky)
  • Rory Hennell James (Bluesky)
  • Tammy Coxen and Jesi Lipp (Bluesky)
  • We also heard from Doug Faunt and Farah Mendlesohn
• Worldcon 2025: Seattle
  • Business Meeting
    • Jesi Lipp posted some excellent infographics on JOF
    • Jesi also posted a small table on our Facebook of attendances back to 2014 and John made them into a graph
    • NASFiC is gone
      • The USA has a national con now and it’s Dragon Con, so why compete? We will return to this question…
      • The end of fan-run conventions in the USA
        • NASFiC is gone, leaving Dragon Con as the de facto national convention
        • The Westercon by-laws have been repealed
        • Wiscon has not got enough volunteers to run an in-person convention
        • Gallifrey One is coming to an end, Showmasters Events are running a commercial replacement
        • GeekGirlCon and Penguicon are struggling
        • Arisia, Baycon, Boskone, Loscon have all shrunk (anecdotally)
      • The end of fan-run conventions more widely?
        • New Zealand: Fan-run conventions have been struggling since CoNZealand
        • Finland: SMOF News recently reported that Finncon is not running due to lack of volunteers
      • More widely to do with volunteering?
        • Maybe more true in the UK?
• Picks
  • John: The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • Alison: Control Room B at Battersea Power Station (and Battersea Power Station Station)
  • Liz: Woodworking by Emily St. James
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Mildly Wes” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A photograph of a cocktail bar at Battersea Power Station. The words “Control Room B” are above the cocktail bar, and the words “Octothorpe 141” overlaid in similar style.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

140: Nerdiest Nerds Who Ever Nerded

John is laughing, Alison is coughing, and Liz has already eaten.

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Coughing (aftershow)

• Letters of comment
  • Ali Baker Brooks (Facebook)
  • Constanze Hofmann (Facebook)
  • David Bamford (Bluesky)
  • Farah Mendlesohn (Facebook)
  • Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky)
  • Jonathan Baddeley (Facebook)
  • Tommy Ferguson (email)
  • We also heard from Olav Rokne, Shi Lala, Tammy Coxen
• 2025 Worldcon: Seattle
  • Business Meeting
    • Business Meeting Agenda and Recaps
      • File 770 reporting: 4 July, 19 July, 25 July
      • YouTube recordings: 4 July, 19 July, 25 July
      • 13 July was not reported/recorded because of executive session
    • Trial Committee
      • Doctor Science, España Sheriff, Ian Stockdale, Kat Kourbeti, Kris “nchanter” Snyder
    • Mark Protection Committee
      • Nicholas Whyte, Alan Bond, and Chris Rose have benefitted quite massively from shortcomings in the WSFS voting mechanism, reports Nicholas Whyte
      • University of Cambridge’s Single Transferable Vote regulations
      • There’s a new way to remove MPC members
        • Ben Yalow jumped before being pushed
    • E.2 got ratified and then un-ratified again
      • Andrew January visualised what the changes imply
      • Nicholas Whyte pointed out this would accidentally hugely disenfranchise Attending Memberships
      • Meg MacDonald pointed out in the Business Meeting that Glasgow had 1390 “First Worldcon” members
    • We should vote with “Everybody Votes” style
  • Smofcon 42 bursaries are available
• 2027 Worldcon: Montreal bid
  • The prospective co-chairs have been announced
• Picks
  • John: One Soul by Ray Fawkes
  • Alison: Bitter
  • Liz: Superman
• Credits
  • Cover art: “WSFS Everybody Votes Channel” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three Miis in the style of John, Alison and Liz on a background reminiscent of the Everybody Votes Channel from the Nintendo Wii. The words “Octothorpe 140” appear at the top and “WSFS Everybody Votes Channel” at the bottom.
  • - Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

139: Mostly Just a Wide Spot on the Road

John was at the business meeting, Alison was at the cricket, and Tammy is Liz.

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Find Tammy at her podcast, my tiny bottles
• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  • Colette Reap (email)
  • Farah Mendlesohn (email)
  • Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
  • Mike Glyer (email)
  • Niall Harrison (email)
    • Here are Niall’s 10 recommendations for you, listeners! [Interestingly, Niall did not mention any of the translators except for one, and so I had to go and look them all up—John]
      • A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-ran, translated by Chi-Young Kim
      • Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
      • Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda
      • Dengue Boy by Michel Nieva, translated by Rahul Bery
      • Sea Now by Eva Meijer, translated by Anne Thompson Melo
      • House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
      • The Place of Shells by Mai Ishizawa, translated by Polly Barton
      • Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
      • Blood for the Undying Throne by Sung-Il Kim, translated by Anton Hur
      • Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated by Ursula Phillips
  • Raj (Mastodon)
  • We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, Brian Nisbet, Fredrik Coulter, Neil Ottenstein, and Sandra Bond
• 2027 Worldcon: Montreal bid
  • The timeline so far:
    • Terry Fong steps down, replaced by Darin Briskman
    • CanSMOF adds Bruce Farr as bid co-chair
    • Tammy writes “The Worldcon is in Trouble” on File 770
  • Site selection
• 2025 Worldcon: Seattle
  • Business Meeting, part 1
  • Business Meeting, part 2: this was entirely in executive session and so none of it ended up on YouTube. Sorry, listeners! You had to be there…
  • Further meetings will occur on 19 July and 25 July at 17:00 BST/09:00 PDT
• 2023 Worldcon: Chengdu
  • Chris Barkley’s 100th column
• Picks
  • John: DIE by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans and Clayton Cowles
    • Read the first issue free!
    • Future issues will eventually be available on Sweet Shop
    • My First Dungeon
  • Alison: After Us, the Flood and We Are Aliens
  • Tammy: The Nine Worlds by Victoria Goddard
    • The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
    • The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Our Tiny Bottles” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: The words “Octothorpe 139” appear at the top and the words “…our tiny bottles…” appear at the bottom. Three bottles are drawn in the middle. The left-hand bottle is a Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge Coca-Cola bottle. The middle bottle is a bottle that looks a bit like a moose. The right-hand bottle is Bottle #18, “The Original Canton Delicate Ginger Liqueur”.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

138: A Tedious Number of Questions About What It’s Like to Run a Games Shop

John chaired, Alison is off on holiday, and Liz has the agenda.

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 Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Ang Rosin (Facebook)
    • Andrea Bell and Derek Hockridge
  • Bridget Bradshaw (Facebook)
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  • Farah Mendlesohn (email, Facebook)
  • Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky)
  • Louise Hughes (Bluesky)
  • Neil Ottenstein (Facebook)
  • Paul Weimer (email)
  • Roseanna Pendlebury (Bluesky)
  • Shi Lala (Facebook)
• Worldcon 2027: Montreal bid
  • Terry Fong has stepped down
  • There has been some news since, but we’ll discuss it next episode…
• Worldcon 2025: Seattle
  • The results of the consultative votes
  • The Business Meeting agenda
  • Instructions on how to attend the virtual Business Meeting
  • Kate Secor’s annotated Business Meeting agenda
• Picks
  • John: All the Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson
  • Alison: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
  • Liz: Old Soul by Susan Barker
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Whizz-Fizz Agenda Time” 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 138” and “Whizz-Fizz Agenda Time!”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)