Octothorpe
 

Octothorpe

https://feed.podbean.com/octothorpe/feed.xml

A podcast about science fiction and SF fandom from John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty.

Episodes

127: Hello Buoys

Thursday Jan 30, 2025

Thursday Jan 30, 2025

John is incoherent, Alison is excited, and Liz is romantic.

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
    • Abigail Nussbaum
    • Ali Baker Brooks
    • Andy Openshaw
    • Chris Garcia
    • Claire Brialey
    • David Salter
    • Ed Morland
    • Farah Mendlesohn
    • Irwin Hirsh
    • Jonny Baddeley
    • Neil Ottenstein
    • Roseanna Pendlebury
    • We also heard from:
      • Fiona Moore, Ivan Sinha
  • Readers’ recommendations
    • Best Novel
      • Private Rites by Julia Armfield
      • I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S Beagle
      • Metal from Heaven by August Clarke
      • In Universes by Emet North
      • The West Passage by Jared Pechaček
      • Three Eight One by Aliya Whiteley
      • Someone You Can Build a Nest in By John Wiswell
    • Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
      • Deadpool and Wolverine
      • Tim Travers & the Time Travelers Paradox
    • Best Game or Interactive Work:
      • Tactical Breach Wizards
    • Best Fancast
    • Astounding Award
      • The End of Nobility by Michael Green
  • Briardene Books
  • Eastercon 2025: Reconnect in Belfast
  • Picks
    • John: Sliding Doors
    • Alison: Three Men in Orbit by Sandra Bond
    • Liz: Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
  • Credits
    • Cover art: “Availability Flowchart” by Alison Scott
      • Alt text: A flowchart entitled “How to meet John, Alison and/or Liz at Eastercon”. The boxes culminate in “console yourself with Octothorpe 127”, and the various options are listed below, but the original file is here in case that’s more helpful to the partially sighted.
      • How to meet John, Alison and/or Liz at Eastercon
      • Are you going to Reconnect?
      • Of course!/Not sure
      • Oh go on it will be a laugh
      • Oh all right then/No…
      • Are they in the bar?
      • Yes!
      • I can’t see them
      • Are you quite sure? Check again
      • Oh wait… there they are
      • No sign
      • Is there another bar?
      • Yes!
      • Nope
      • Are they on programme?
      • Yes!
      • No
      • Wait till the moderator asks for questions
      • But it’s Octothorpe Live!
      • Is your joke very funny?
      • Obviously!
      • Excellent! Good to know.
      • COME AND SAY HELLO
      • until then…
      • Are they asleep or on the loo?
      • No, they look chill
      • Er, yes?
      • Oh, that’s a shame
      • Console yourself with Octothorpe 127
    • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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126: I’ve Read Some Novels

Thursday Jan 16, 2025

Thursday Jan 16, 2025

John is a thief, Alison plays games, and Liz is bullied.

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
    • Andreas Davour
    • Bella Garcia
    • Constanze Hoffman
    • Farah Mendlesohn
    • Jonathan Cowie
    • June Young
    • Mike Scott
    • Neil Ottenstein
    • Raj
    • Tammy Coxen
    • Zoe O’Connell
    • We also heard from Bridget Bradshaw, Colin Harris, Meg MacDonald, and Shi Lala
  • Fan funds
  • Fowler Award
  • Hugo Awards
    • 2025 spreadsheet of doom
    • Novels
      • T**he Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
      • The Sentence by Gautam Bhatia
      • The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
      • The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
      • Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang
      • The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
      • Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
      • House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky
      • Absolution by Jeff Vandermeer
      • We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson
    • Novellas
      • A Mourning Coat by Alex Jeffers
      • North Continent Ribbon by Ursula Whitcher
    • Short Stories
    • Related Works
      • Track Changes: Selected Reviews **by Abigail Nussbaum
      • Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the A**lt-Right by Jordan S. Carroll
    • Series
      • The Horus Heresy
      • The Southern Reach
      • The Tyrant Philosophers
    • Graphic Stories
    • Dramatic Presentations
      • All of Us Strangers
      • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
      • I Saw the TV Glow
      • Late Night with the Devil
      • My Old Ass
      • A Quiet Place: Day One
      • The Substance
      • Timestalker
      • Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
      • The Wild Robot
    • Games
      • Tabletop
        • Arcs
        • City of Six Moons
        • Mothership
        • Undaunted 2200: Callisto
      • Video
        • Animal Well
        • Caves of Qud
        • Dragon Age: The Veilguard
        • The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdo**m
        • Slice and Dice 3.0
        • Star Wars: Outlaws
        • Tale of the Golden Idol
        • UFO50
      • Other
    • Poems
    • Fan categories
      • Artists
        • Alison Scott
        • España Sheriff
      • Podcasts
        • Fanac Fan History Zooms
        • Going Rogue
        • Hugo, Girl!
        • A Meal of Thorns
      • Writers
      • Fanzines
        • Ancillary Review of Books
        • Banana Wings
        • Ornithopter
        • Unofficial Hugo Book Club
    • Debut authors
      • Moniquill Blackgoose
    • [Alison did not write any of her selections into the show notes and I was sorely tempted not to go through and write them all down for her but I did it for you, listener. I did it for you—John]
  • Picks [isn’t this a whole episode of picks?—Liz]
    • John: Earthborne Rangers
    • Alison: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
    • Liz: Horizon Zero Dawn
    • Sorry Mark
  • Credits

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125: I’m Physically Present in This Hotel Room

Friday Dec 20, 2024

Friday Dec 20, 2024

John is travelling, Alison is coding, and Liz is faithful.

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 6)

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124: The Third D Isn’t What You Think

Thursday Dec 05, 2024

Thursday Dec 05, 2024

John is horrified, Alison is spelunking, and Liz is detecting.

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:

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123: Infinite Amount of Annual Leave

Thursday Nov 21, 2024

Thursday Nov 21, 2024

John is going to Seattle, Alison is going to the Åland Islands, and Liz is going to Belfast.

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: Money, grim darkness

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122: Topical Pumpkin

Thursday Nov 07, 2024

Thursday Nov 07, 2024

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

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121: All About the Vibes

Thursday Oct 24, 2024

Thursday Oct 24, 2024

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

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120: Activate Liz

Friday Oct 11, 2024

Friday Oct 11, 2024

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)

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

Thursday Sep 26, 2024

Thursday Sep 26, 2024

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).

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118: Och Aye, Sci-Fi

Thursday Sep 12, 2024

Thursday Sep 12, 2024

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)

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© John Coxon, Alison Scott, Liz Batty

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