Octothorpe

John Coxon, Alison Scott, Liz Batty
Octothorpe

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

  1. 122: Topical Pumpkin

    3 DAYS AGO

    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)

    1 hr
  2. 119: Only One of Them Is My Bludgeoning Hand, John

    26 SEPT

    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)

    1h 3m
  3. 117: You Made That Joke Last Time, John

    29 AUG

    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)

    57 min
  4. 115: I Like the Way Glasgow Did It

    1 AUG

    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

    1h 12m

About

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

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