Octothorpe

93: The Good Thing About the Hugos

John is husky, Alison is a dingo, and Liz is a ridgeback.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Chris Garcia
  • Ersatz Culture
• Chengdu is a shower
  • Relevant Pixel Scrolls:
    • Fanzine and Fan Writer added; videos of the construction
    • Panoramic views of the convention site
  • Arthur Liu’s post on Weibo
• Glasgow 2024
  • Glasgow 2024 Presents: The Media of Storytelling: Print v Screen
• Hugo discussion
• GUFF
  • LEGO postcards from Australia
  • You can donate £5 or £10 to guffeurope@gmail.com to get a personalised postcard from Alison
    1. Postcard from Australia for £5
    2. Photo postcard from the Internet for £5
    3. Special surprise exclusive GUFF 2023 Art postcard for £10
    4. Postcard with an “unreasonable special request” for £10 [don’t ask me what this means, I just wrote down the words Alison said—John]
• Picks
  • We did a lot of talking about our opinions of SF this episode, so picks return in future!
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Flying to Australia” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A photograph of Alison’s Apple Watch on a plane to Australia. This episode of Octothorpe is playing on that Apple Watch, which is on her wrist.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

92: Shouting From Inside the Room

John went to Reno, Alison went to San Francisco, and Liz went to Chicago.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Murder and sexual violence (chapter 4)

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
  • Dave Mansfield
  • Duncan MacGregor
  • Ersatz Culture
  • Irwin Hirsch
  • Juan Sanmiguel
  • Nick Hubble
  • Peter Sullivan
• ConFrancisco
  • Ansible 75 (October 1993)
  • File 770’s Worldcon Wayback Machine:
    • Thursday
    • Friday
    • Saturday
    • Sunday
    • Monday
• Chengdu is a shower
  • The Hugo Voter Packet still doesn’t have Best Fanzine or Best Fan Writer
  • Ersatz Culture’s page on the Hugo Voter Packet now contains downloads for both
  • Arthur Liu/Heaven Duke has two pages in Chinese covering similar ground: one, two
• Glasgow 2024
  • Progress Report 2 is now out
  • They’ve got a big organ
  • John is moderating “The Media of Storytelling: Print v Screen” for Glasgow Presents
    • 21 September at 19:00 BST
    • Dan Hanks, A M Justice, Jim Mcleod, and R W W Greene
    • Tickets are free
• Picks
  • John: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978)
  • Alison: The Thin Man (1934) and The Island of Doctor Moreau by H G Wells (1896)
  • Liz:
• Credits
  • Cover art: “1993 Time Machine” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A drawing of España Sheriff with “gosh wow oh boy oh boy” in a thought bubble to the left of a drawing of Alison saying “displays include Hugo history and antique vibrators” behind an info desk. Computer monitors display the text “Coming soon! Websites!” and “Try Virtual Reality, it’s the next big thing”. A Dalek and the Golden Gate Bridge adorn the scene. Above, the words “Moscone North” are below the words “We travel to a land that photography forgot” which are in turn below “Octothorpe 92”.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

91: O— O— O—

John is a journalist, Alison is fundraising, and Liz is approved.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Ali Baker Brooks
  • Chris Garcia
  • David Curry
  • Edward Morland
  • Farah Mendlesohn
  • Jonathan Baddeley
  • Lori Anderson
    • Not Laurie Anderson
• The Clarke Award
  • Liz read them all! 🌟
• Hugo Voter Packet
  • Ersatz Culture’s report on what’s in the packet
• Site selection
  • Voting has started!
  • Seattle in 2025
• Alison’s GUFF plans
  • If you are in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Christchurch, Picton/Nelson, Wellington, Auckland or Perth, email Alison
• Picks
  • John: The (Kenner)Spiel des Jahres shortlist
  • Alison: LEGO
  • Liz: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (hardback, epub)
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Plenty of Bits” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A photograph of three mini figures made to look like John, Alison nad Liz with a dragon in the background. John is holding a lightsaber, Alison a fish and a cup o f coffee, and Liz an ice cream. Two cats accompany them.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

90: Resolutely Alison All the Time

John, Alison and Liz read Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Murder, death

• Other works we discussed:
  • Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
  • Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Rosewater by Tade Thompson
    • This didn’t make the edit due to Liz’s audio being troublesome
  • The 2018 Hugo Award ballot
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Standard-Sized Cryochambers” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three cryochambers marked “Coxon J, Scott A and Batty L” reside in a room marked “Clone Bay”. John and Liz’s heads are visible through the windows int heir chambers; Alison’s is not. Blood floats in front of them underneath the words “Octothorpe 90”.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

89: The Winner Does Not Receive a Pie

John is sitting, Alison is watching, and Liz is typing.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: AI (chapter 3), China (chapter 4), colonialism (chapter 5)

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Chris Garcia
  • Duncan MacGregor
  • Edward Morland
  • Ersatz Culture
  • Farah Mendlesohn
    • Ash by Mary Gentle
  • Raj
  • Roman Orszanski
• Transcription
  • We have uploaded transcripts and subtitles for Episodes 49, 62, and 72 as part of our Hugo Voter Packet submission
  • What do people want from transcripts? Do any of our listeners use them?
  • You can find the transcripts and subtitles for episodes on our GitHub
• Glasgow in 2024
  • Liz has taken a role in the Programme Division as the Area Head of Podcasting Content
    • John’s panel suggestion: “Why don’t podcasters just shout? Why use microphones? Our panel discusses the pros and cons of literally shouting into the void.”
    • Please put this into the programme suggestion form
  • Glasgow in 2024 has released an AI Art Statement
    • ASFA
• Chengdu Worldcon
  • None of us are planning to take the Worldcon up on their offer of a free trip
  • File 770 articles about finalists going to China: 1, 2, 3, 4
• Picks
  • John: Asteroid City
  • Alison: Beyond a Boundary by CLR James
    • Miles Jupp’s Fibber in the Heat
  • Liz: The Last Blade Priest by WP Wiles
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Eight-Fingered Monkeys” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three monkeys, each with eight digits on their hands and eight on their feet, do the classic “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” triptych under the words “Octothorpe 89”.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

88: Someone Somewhere Must Know What’s Going On

John is on brand, Alison wants to do Mark, and Liz had a few twinges.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: COVID (chapter 2)

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
  • Duncan MacGregor
  • Mark Plummer
  • Niall Harrison
    • Adam Roberts’ future books:
      • The Death of Sir Martin Malprelate (2023)
      • The Midas Rain (2023)
      • Lake of Darkness (2024)
  • Raj
  • Various congratulations from our lovely lovely listeners
• Octothorpe COVID round-up
  • Levitation are soliciting signups to their eventual COVID survey
• Hugo Awards
  • The finalists have been announced
    • Chinese recommendation posts
    • Did Octothorpe have an effect?
  • What are your favourite episodes from 2022, listeners?
  • SB Divya declined two Hugo nominations
  • España Sheriff did not, but blogged on her thoughts anyway
• Chengdu Worldcon
  • Emails have been sent to members about the programme survey
  • “The Stars and the Sea”
• Picks
  • John: The Scarlet Keys
  • Alison: Plutoshine by Lucy Kissack
  • Liz: Tour de France
    • Cyclists near Alison’s house
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Rocktothorpe” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three Clangers wearing homages to Sean Connery in Zardoz stand on the Moon, painted on a rock which is in turn against a purple background. The words “Octothorpe 88” appear in yellow/orange at the top.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

87: We Didn’t Imagine the Third Option

John isn’t picky, Alison is in a field, and Liz is very hungry.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Chris Garcia
  • Karen Schaeffer
  • Malcolm Hutchison
  • Peter Sullivan
  • Raj
  • We might have Tweets of comment but who knows?
• Chengdu is a shower
  • Moar Hugo award delays
  • Now you see them, now you don’t
  • This episode will go live when the Hugo finalists do
• Locus awards
  • From Locus #750: “The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi won with the smallest winning lead this year, just 17 points ahead Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, which had the most votes and first-place votes, and would have won without the doubling of subscriber points.”
  • Scalzi’s grumpy tweet
• BSFA awards
  • Non-fiction is split into short and long
  • Novella
  • Collection
  • Original audio fiction
  • Translated work of short fiction
• Picks
  • John: Across the Spider-Verse
    • Not Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman
  • Alison: Museum Catalogues (In the Black Fantastic and Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination)
  • Liz: Stealing From the Sky by Adam Roberts
    • In the style of Donald Westlake
• Credits
  • Cover art: “One Moose-Sized Alison” by first-time Hugo Finalist Alison Scott
    • Alt text: John and Liz stand in front of a moose-sized Alison wearing antlers in a cage fight. Alison is saying “BEWARE MY SIGNATURE MOVE THE MOOSE”, John is saying “I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SUMMER OF FUN” and Liz is saying “IS IT TOO LATE TO PICK 100 ALISON-SIZED MOOSE?” The words “Octothorpe 87” are at the top.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

86: The Joy of Hemispheres

John can do one, Alison don’t like cricket, and Liz will never get to bed.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Poor working conditions (chapter 2), COVID (chapter 3)

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Chris Garcia
• Chengdu is a shower
  • Hugo Award delay
  • Venue under construction
• COVID Round-up
  • New recommendation: 5 air changes per hour (ACH)
    • The Lancet COVID-19 Commission Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and Safe Travel
  • HSE has general ventilation advice
• Seattle is the only Worldcon bid for 2025
• Pemmi-Con
  • Virtual memberships have been announced
  • You will have a supporting membership if
    • you voted in NASFiC site selection or
    • you got drunk and bought a $65 Moose T-shirt at Chicon 8
• Glasgow in 2024
  • You can volunteer to be on programme or suggest an item
• Arthur C. Clarke Award
  • Liz has read one of them
  • John has read a different one
• GUFF
  • Alison has dates and a plan
  • If you’re in Australia and want to have Alison (and maybe Steven) to visit, let us know
• Picks:
  • John: UK Games Expo
    • Earthborne Rangers
    • Solar Sphere
    • FlickFleet
    • Asteroid Dice and Shape Invaders
    • Catacombs
    • Dungeon Drop
    • Final Girl
    • Find stockists for any of the above games through BoardGamePrices
  • Alison: Cricket
  • Liz: Rivers of London, specifically the most recent novels (False Value and Amongst Our Weapons)
• Credits
  • Cover art: Apparently It’s Beach Cricket by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: The three of us wearing cricket clothes in front of a picture of a beach that Liz took to taunt us.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

85: Super Smart or Completely the Opposite

John is at a convention, Alison is in a cottage, and Liz is not at a festival.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: COVID (chapter 1)

• Letters of comment
  • Tammy Coxen
  • Alex Holden
  • Dave Mansfield
  • Chris Garcia
  • Perrianne Lurie
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Chris Garcia
  • Randy Smith
  • Chris Garcia
• Cheese
• Satellite 8
• Jim Shull
• Picks:
  • John: All These Worlds: Reviews and Essays by Niall Harrison
  • Alison: Shining Girls (Apple TV+)
  • Liz: Striking Out
• Credits
  • Cover art: “To-do List” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A moose mug, a keyboard and a to-do list on a desk. The list reads: “Watch the cricket. Sit in the garden. Plan holidays. Octothorpe 85 art. Summer of fun.”
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

84: I Do Not Like to Be Delighted on Every Page

John, Alison and Liz read A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge.

Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Twitter or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Spoilers for the book

• Credits
  • Cover art: “Little Baby Cheeses” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three cheeses sit on a shelf. The first cheese is thinking “FACE #1: CHEEZY GRIN”. The second is thinking “FACE #2: LONG SUFFERING ARTIST”. The third is thinking “FACE #3: FIVE EXPRESSIONS? YOU WERE LUCKY. YOU SHOULD TRY BEING CHEESE.” The words “Octothorpe 84” hang above them.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)