102: I Fully Comprehend the Mysteries Octothorpe

John, Alison and Liz respond to a letter of comment from Tobes.
Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, check out our subtitles/transcripts, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X, Mastodon or Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: Chinese censorship (discussion of the Hugo Awards), Jim Crow Florida (Liz’s pick), general socioeconomic inequality (John’s pick)
Glasgow 2024’s hotel bookings are open
Letters of comment
Alex Ingram
Bill Higgins
Chris Garcia
Colin Murtagh
Jersey Gryphon
Karen Schaffer
Raj
Tobes Valois

Hugo Awards controversy
File 770’s roundup
Some recent writing on these topics:
Abigail Nussbaum
Cora Buhlert
Genre Grapevine

Ada Palmer on censorship
Reaction from Chinese fans
A reaction from Zimozi Natsuco
Check out Ersatz Culture’s feeds for more information on Chinese reactions (Bluesky, Mastodon)

Dave McCarty
His apology
A link to his Facebook

The Useful Idiot
It’s not Lenin, it’s a Western term originating in the 1940s and 1950s

Worldcon Intellectual Property statement about resignations, censures, and reprimands
Glasgow 2024’s Hugo nominations post

Picks
John: The Kitchen, dir. Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares
Alison: Dangerous Space, designed by Jason Greeno and Jason Tagmire
Liz: The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (paperback, ebook, Amazon)

Credits
Cover art: “Scooby Gang” by Alison Scott
Alt text: Scooby, Velma and Daphne unmask the panda from last week’s cover art, and the person wearing the panda suit looks a lot like Dave McCarty. They say “It was old Mister McCarty all along!” and he says “And I would have gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for you meddling Hugo finalists!” He is tied up with rope. The words “Octothorpe! 102” appear at the top of the image.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)