Octothorpe

68: It Made John Laugh

John is clever, Alison has lost her composure, and Liz is confused by WSFS.

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

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Kev McVeigh (on Octothorpe 63)
    • Burntcoat by Sarah Hall (epub, hardback, audiobook, Amazon)
  • Congratulations to Raj for catching up!
    • [Do not listen from the beginning – John]
    • [It is also okay to skip episodes – Alison]
  • Mark Plummer
  • Chris Garcia
  • Farah Mendlesohn
• British Fantasy Society Awards
  • Maureen Kincaid Speller
    • Tribute on Strange Horizons
• Glasgow 2024
  • Join here!
  • WSFS Memberships
    • These have confused some people
    • WSFS Memberships let you vote in the Hugo Awards and in Site Selection
    • But not in the WSFS Business Meeting
    • Cheryl Morgan at Salon Futura
• Picks:
  • John: A Vertical Empire: History of the British Rocketry Programme by CN Hill (ebook, paperback, Amazon)
  • Alison: Wandavision (Disney+)
  • Liz: Return to Monkey Island (Steam, Nintendo Switch)
• Credits
  • Cover art: Glasgow by Sara Felix with kind permission of Glasgow 2024
    • Alt text: The Glasgow 2024 logo with black line drawings of John, Alison and Liz on three planets. Alison has a tiara. In place of the words “Glasgow 2024” are the words “Octothorpe 68”. The logo is on a background in Octothorpe’s purple.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

67: Straight Back to Star Wars

John has hairspray, Alison has a tiara, and Liz has a necklace.

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

Content warnings this episode: Falling out of boats (chapter 8)

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
  • Facebook, Twitter, assorted other mentions
• Conventions
  • Chicon 8
  • Dragon Con
  • Pemmi-con
  • Gen Con
• Chicago
  • Morse Museum of American Art (not in Chicago)
  • Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady
  • Art Institute of Chicago
• Hugo Award statistics
• Picks:
  • Alison: Phantom Peak
  • Liz: The Founders trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
    • Foundryside (epub, paperback, Amazon)
    • Shorefall (epub, paperback, Amazon)
    • Locklands (epub, paperback, Amazon)
  • John: Galaxy’s Edge
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Alison Phones It In” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A commemorative plate with a blue rim which says “Octothorpe 67” and “Number #2 in an obviously infinite series” on it. Within that there is another commemorative plate with a purple rim edged in gold, and gold writing which says “Octothorpe 64” and the names of the hosts on that rim. In the centre, three figures; John on the left, giving a thumbs up in a yellow Star Trek uniform with ocular implants like Rutherford’s in Lower Decks; Alison in the centre wearing a red Star Trek uniform; and Liz on the right wearing a blue Star Trek uniform with blue-green skin and pointy ears. We each have a single command pip. In the top-right corner there is text reading “UNIQUE COMMEMORATIVE PLATE OF A COMMEMORATIVE PLATE”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

66: Thank You, Steven

John is in the fanzine lounge, Alison is under a bison hat, and Liz is good, thank you.

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

Content warnings this episode: None

• We talked to the following people!
  • Fia Karlsson, TAFF delegate
  • Lynelle Howell, Facilities Division Head for CoNZealand
  • Chuck Serface, Hugo Award finalist for Journey Planet
  • Ric Bretschneider, co-host of Fanboy Planet
  • Perry Middlemiss, past Worldcon chair and co-host of Two Chairs Talking
  • James Bacon, past Worldcon chair and Hugo Award finalist for Journey Planet
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Hugo Reception”
    • Alt text: A purple square with “OCTOTHORPE 66” written at the bottom and inset, a photograph of John, Alison, and Liz. John is wearing a grey suit with a Hugo Award finalist pin and a matching purple tie and mask; Alison is wearing a black mask, a burgundy dress, a tiara by Sara Felix, and has glitter on her temple; and Liz is wearing a green dress and matching mask, a necklace by Vanessa Applegate, and a yellow shrug. They are against a backdrop which has alternating Hugo Award logos and Chicon 8 logos.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

65: Action Castle 2

John is a computer; Alison and Liz are talking to him very slowly.

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

• Buy the Parsely Games PDF
• Alison had an ear worm
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Maps” by Alison Scott and Liz Batty
    • Alt text: Two hand drawn maps of the world described by the game, in handwriting, one on an iPad and one on paper. They are atop a purple square which says “Octothorpe 65”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

64: Best Commemorative Plate

John is crying, Alison is lounging, and Liz is crocheting.

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

Content warnings this episode: climate change, death, abuse (chapter 3)

• Letters of comment
  • Ang Rosin
  • Caroline Mullan
  • Mark Plummer
    • Galactic Journey
    • Kev Smith’s TAFF report
    • John’s TAFF report
  • Bill Higgins
  • Chris Garcia
  • Raj
  • Hotel eggs
• Our Hugo Award ballots
  • The Brialey Competence Threshold
  • The list of finalists (we’re not going to write them all out here!)
• Worldcon schedules
  • The following are us on the Chicon 8 guide: John, Alison, Liz
  • Wait for a second for the data to come in to replace the “this user is not found” page rather than deciding it didn’t work before immediately closing the tab (see also: Alison)
• Worldcon miscellany
  • File 770 reports on proper electronic site selection
    • Vote through Chicon 8’s Registration subsite
    • We all voted and thought it was very easy!
  • Alison escapes from collating WOOF
  • Kampcon 2028 bids for a Ugandan Worldcon
• Picks
  • John: Nope (in cinemas) and “Family Cooking” by Anamaria Curtis (Uncanny)
  • Alison: “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny)
  • Liz: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Disney+)
• Star Wars games
  • I could do links to Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch games with Star Wars in, but I feel like you can probably just do that yourselves, listeners. I know, the service here is terrible
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Commemorative Plate” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A commemorative plate with a purple rim edged in gold, and gold writing which says “Octothorpe 64” and the names of the hosts on that rim. In the centre, three figures; John on the left, giving a thumbs up in a yellow Star Trek uniform with ocular implants like Rutherford’s in Lower Decks; Alison in the centre wearing a red Star Trek uniform; and Liz on the right wearing a blue Star Trek uniform with blue-green skin and pointy ears. We each have a single command pip.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

63: Nonsense Divide

John has a button, Alison has a venue, and Liz once saw a computer that had been in Chris’s car.

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

Content warnings this episode: COVID (chapter 2), death at a young age (chapter 6).

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
  • Roman Orszanski
  • Paul Weimer
  • Bridget Bradshaw
• FantasyCon
  • It was cancelled
    • They had sold 200 memberships, but needed 400 and were £24k short
  • It was uncancelled
    • You can join the new iteration here
• Arthur C Clarke Awards
  • The shortlist is out
  • The Scotsman reviewed Deep Wheel Orcadia
• Conversation has a venue now!
• Chicon Fringe
• Picks
  • John: Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic (Steam, Switch, Xbox, iPad)
    • No PlayStation version, probably because of the coming remake?
      • The remake has been “paused indefinitely”
  • Alison: “In the Black Fantastic” at the Hayward Gallery
    • Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
  • Liz: The Great Potato War
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Assorted Jedi” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three humanoid figures hold lightsabers and stand against a futuristic cityscape reminiscent of Coruscant. The leftmost looks like John, but is clad in the clothes of Luke Skywalker. The middle figure looks like Alison, but she’s green and looks quite a lot like Yoda. The rightmost looks like Liz, clad in the clothes of Rey Skywalker. The words “Octothorpe 63” adorn the top of the image in the distinctive typeface of Star Wars.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

62: Do You Want to Talk About Lesbians?

John has superpowers, Alison is an alien in a human suit, and Liz likes cats.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: being stranded in space (chapter 1); sexism (chapter 2); Hell and murder (chapter 5).

• No letters of comment this week, normal service resumes next week!
• Books in the order they were discussed
  • Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
  • A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark
  • The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers
  • She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan
  • Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki
  • A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine
• What book would we have put on the list instead?
  • John: The Psychopath Club by Sandra Bond
  • Alison: The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
  • Liz: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• John’s ranking:
  1. A Desolation Called Peace
  2. Light From Uncommon Stars
  3. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
  4. A Master of Djinn
  5. She Who Became the Sun
  6. Project Hail Mary
• Alison’s ranking:
  1. A Desolation Called Peace
  2. Light From Uncommon Stars
  3. She Who Became the Sun
  4. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
  5. A Master of Djinn
  6. Project Hail Mary
• Liz’s ranking:
  1. A Desolation Called Peace
  2. She Who Became the Sun
  3. A Master of Djinn
  4. Light From Uncommon Stars
  5. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
  6. Project Hail Mary
• Consensus ranking:
  1. A Desolation Called Peace
  2. Light From Uncommon Stars
  3. She Who Became the Sun
  4. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
  5. A Master of Djinn
  6. Project Hail Mary
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Favourite Reading Positions” by Sue Mason
    • Alt text: John is in the bottom-left, sitting in a chair, wearing a blue shirt and purple trousers, holding a can, and reading an ebook. Alison is in the upper-middle, lying down upside down, wearing a purple shirt and stripy trousers, and reading an ebook. Liz is in the bottom-right, wearing a pink shirt with green trousers, holding a mug of a hot beverage, and reading a physical book. They are surrounded by floating beer bottles, books, the Moon, a mug with a moose on it, and two cats. The words “Octothorpe 62” appear in scattered letters around the artwork, against a pinky-purple background.
  • Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

61: That Little Voice in Your Head

John has a hat on, Alison is taking the baton, and Liz twirls.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: COVID-19 (chapter 2)

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
    • The Drink Tank
    • Sci-Fi Short of the Week
    • DUST
  • Andrew January
  • Roman Orszanski
  • Duncan McGregor and cDave on Twitter
  • Raj sent a nice message on Twitter as well
  • Fran Dowd
    • Celluloid Screams
    • Fear2000
    • Sheffield DocFest
    • The Festival of Fantastic Films
  • Farah Mendlesohn
    • Science Fiction Research Association
• Octothorpe COVID Round-Up
  • WisCon’s post-con COVID report
  • Andrew Plotkin’s write-up of Scintillation
• The Hugo Awards’ 25% rule
  • WSFS Constitution (see §3.12.2)
  • Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk’s proposal to remove this clause
• Picks
  • John: Elgato Stream Deck Mini
  • Alison: Cricket
  • Liz: Kevin
• Interactive Fiction
  • Spider and Web
• Credits
  • Cover art: Robots by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three round robot vacuum cleaners on a wood panel floor in a triangle formation. The lower-left one has glasses like John’s and looks like it’s open-mouthed; the upper-centre one has glasses like Alison’s and looks like it’s smiling; the lower-right one has no glasses like Liz and looks like it’s smiling. The text “Octothorpe 61” appears above the robots.
  • Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

60: Different Types of Tedium

John is going to brunch, Alison watched a film, and Liz is critical.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: None

• Letters of comment
  • Kevin Standlee and Tammy Coxen
  • Bridget Bradshaw
  • Chris Garcia
  • Unofficial Hugo Book Club on Twitter sent us a graph
  • Catherine Crockett
    • Transcripts on eFanzines
    • Subtitles on Podbean - Jonathan Cowie asked “What special Hugo would we introduce if we were in charge at Glasgow?”
  • Alison: Best Transcript
  • Liz: Best Non-Fiction/Best Criticism
  • John: Best Short Film or Best Dramatic Presentation (Very Short Form)
  • Alison (seriously): Best Dramatic Presentation (Audio Form)
• Hugo voting is now open until August 11th
• Picks
  • John: Moon Knight (Disney+)
  • Alison: ABBA: Voyage
    • Pepper’s Ghost
  • Liz: [PICK REDACTED]
• Credits
  • Cover art: DALL-E, courtesy of Bridget Bradshaw
    • Alt text: A three-by-three grid of images generated by DALL-E with the prompt “cover art for Octothorpe podcast”. They are quite surreal, often involve figures, and are mostly in shades of green and pink with one black and white one. They almost give an impression of Lovecraftian tutti-frutti.
  • Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

59: Chickens

John is roast beef, Alison is pickled onion, and Liz is flamin’ hot.

Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: COVID (chapter 3)

• Letters of comment
  • Artwork: Dave Coxon
  • Podcasts for tedium: Jonny Baddeley, Ali Baker Brooks, Virginia Preston
  • Convention data: Chris Garcia, Lilian Edwards
  • Worldcons: Malcolm Hutchison, Gillian Polack
  • Picks:
    • Raybearer is getting the Netflix treatment
    • Abigail Nussbaum’s essay on Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • Ali Baker Brooks: Athena Scalzi’s review of a British snack box
• Fanzine Lounge at Chicon 8
  • Alison’s job title is salonnière
  • You can volunteer to help out!
  • Masks will be required as it’s not a designated space for eating and drinking
• Hugo Voter Packet
  • We are working on getting transcripts up for people who aren’t Worldcon members, stay tuned…
• WSFS Constitution
  • Kevin Standlee’s tweets
• Picks
  • John: Sci-Fi London’s short movie track
  • Alison: Severance (Apple TV+)
  • Liz was busy: Bob’s Burgers (Disney+)
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Monster Munch” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Photo manipulation of a purple packet of crisps reminiscent of Monster Munch, with “MEGA OCTOTHORPE PODCAST episode 59” written on the centre of the packet. below that are pictures of three monsters eating monster-paw shaped snack, and beneath each of those reads “40% massive hunks of John ‘roast beef’ Coxon flavour baked corn snack,” “40% huge chunks of Alison ‘pickled onion’ Scott flavour baked corn snack,” and “20% mighty bites of Liz ‘flamin’ hot' Batty flavour baked corn snack.”
  • Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)