Octothorpe

• 143: A Major Movie in the Sand Genre

  John skips leg day, Alison skips art day, and Liz skips opinions. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: None Letters of comment Alan Fleming & David Bamford (email) Eastercon 2027: Unconfined in Glasgow Christopher J Garcia (email) Doug Faunt (Facebook) Fredrik Coulter (Facebook) Jake Casella Brookins (email) Jesi Lipp (Facebook) Meg MacDonald (Facebook) Paul Weimer (Bluesky) Raj (Bluesky) Sari Polvinen (email) Shi Lala (Facebook) Next episode, we are going to watch Dredd! 2025 Worldcon: Seattle Seattle apologised after we recorded The Hugo Awards longlist is now out! Donald E Eastlake III at the MPC 2026 Worldcon: LAcon V in Los Angeles ‪Weyodi OldBear‬: first post, second post Apology from the chair 2027 Worldcon: Montréal Old bid site Jeph Jacques’s Questionable Content Picks John: FlickFleet Eurydice Games Alison: Slay the Spire again Liz: Luminous by Sylvia Park “More Real Than Him” Credits Cover art: “Inside Coverage” by Arthur Thomson Alt text: An abstract, geometric figure stands, their torso through a panel which has various trailing wires. There is a radio or walkie talkie on the floor and a textured background which is also geometric. The words “Octothorpe 143” appear at the top, “Walt Willis” appear at the right, and “Inside Coverage” appear at the bottom. Explanation: This is a previously unused piece of art by Atom (Arthur Thomson), originally intended for a Walt Willis column in Hyphen that never happened. Alison wants to use it as an Octothorpe cover to make Atom eligible for Best Fanzine Cover in the FAAn awards. Except, you know, not. Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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• 142: A Lot of Double-Sided Bra Tape

  John is going to have lunch, Lori is going to brunch, and Liz is not hungry? An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: Mispronounced names (chapter 4), class structures (chapter 7) Worldcon 2025: Seattle Hugo Awards The ceremony Pronunciations Grigory Lukin Nisi Shawl on Bluesky: first, second K Tempest Bradford on X in 2020: first, second K Tempest Bradford on Bluesky The winners Billy on the Street “For a dollar, name a woman!” Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes Worldcon 2030: Edmonton bid Picks John: The Sentence by Gautam Bhatia The Wall and The Horizon Andrew Openshaw’s review Lori: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson Liz: The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho Credits Cover art: “Ceremony Script Revealed” by Alison Scott Alt text: A picture of a book entitled “Hugo Award Pronunciation Guide” written by George R R Martin. The cover design is in the style of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, with an Iron Throne made of Hugo Awards. The words “Octothorpe 142” are at the top in a Game of Thrones-y typeface. Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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• 141: A Whole Episode Without Business Meeting Content

  John is worried, Alison volunteers, and Liz is warm. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: None Letters of comment Chris Hurley (email) Dave O’Neill (Bluesky, DM) Ivan Sinha (Facebook) Jesi Lipp (email, Facebook) John Hertz (typewritten letter with pasted image from File 770 scanned by Fedex and sent by email) Mike Glyer (email) Neil Ottenstein (Facebook) Nicholas Whyte (email) Nuala (Bluesky) Paul Weimer (Bluesky) Rory Hennell James (Bluesky) Tammy Coxen and Jesi Lipp (Bluesky) We also heard from Doug Faunt and Farah Mendlesohn Worldcon 2025: Seattle Business Meeting Jesi Lipp posted some excellent infographics on JOF Jesi also posted a small table on our Facebook of attendances back to 2014 and John made them into a graph NASFiC is gone The USA has a national con now and it’s Dragon Con, so why compete? We will return to this question… The end of fan-run conventions in the USA NASFiC is gone, leaving Dragon Con as the de facto national convention The Westercon by-laws have been repealed Wiscon has not got enough volunteers to run an in-person convention Gallifrey One is coming to an end, Showmasters Events are running a commercial replacement GeekGirlCon and Penguicon are struggling Arisia, Baycon, Boskone, Loscon have all shrunk (anecdotally) The end of fan-run conventions more widely? New Zealand: Fan-run conventions have been struggling since CoNZealand Finland: SMOF News recently reported that Finncon is not running due to lack of volunteers More widely to do with volunteering? Maybe more true in the UK? Picks John: The Tyrant Philosophers by Adrian Tchaikovsky Alison: Control Room B at Battersea Power Station (and Battersea Power Station Station) Liz: Woodworking by Emily St. James Credits Cover art: “Mildly Wes” by Alison Scott Alt text: A photograph of a cocktail bar at Battersea Power Station. The words “Control Room B” are above the cocktail bar, and the words “Octothorpe 141” overlaid in similar style. Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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• 140: Nerdiest Nerds Who Ever Nerded

  John is laughing, Alison is coughing, and Liz has already eaten. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: Coughing (aftershow) Letters of comment Ali Baker Brooks (Facebook) Constanze Hofmann (Facebook) David Bamford (Bluesky) Farah Mendlesohn (Facebook) Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky) Jonathan Baddeley (Facebook) Tommy Ferguson (email) We also heard from Olav Rokne, Shi Lala, Tammy Coxen 2025 Worldcon: Seattle Business Meeting Business Meeting Agenda and Recaps File 770 reporting: 4 July, 19 July, 25 July YouTube recordings: 4 July, 19 July, 25 July 13 July was not reported/recorded because of executive session Trial Committee Doctor Science, España Sheriff, Ian Stockdale, Kat Kourbeti, Kris “nchanter” Snyder Mark Protection Committee Nicholas Whyte, Alan Bond, and Chris Rose have benefitted quite massively from shortcomings in the WSFS voting mechanism, reports Nicholas Whyte University of Cambridge’s Single Transferable Vote regulations There’s a new way to remove MPC members Ben Yalow jumped before being pushed E.2 got ratified and then un-ratified again Andrew January visualised what the changes imply Nicholas Whyte pointed out this would accidentally hugely disenfranchise Attending Memberships Meg MacDonald pointed out in the Business Meeting that Glasgow had 1390 “First Worldcon” members We should vote with “Everybody Votes” style Smofcon 42 bursaries are available 2027 Worldcon: Montreal bid The prospective co-chairs have been announced Picks John: One Soul by Ray Fawkes Alison: Bitter Liz: Superman Credits Cover art: “WSFS Everybody Votes Channel” by Alison Scott Alt text: Three Miis in the style of John, Alison and Liz on a background reminiscent of the Everybody Votes Channel from the Nintendo Wii. The words “Octothorpe 140” appear at the top and “WSFS Everybody Votes Channel” at the bottom. - Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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• 139: Mostly Just a Wide Spot on the Road

  John was at the business meeting, Alison was at the cricket, and Tammy is Liz. An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], join our Facebook group, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on Bluesky or on Mastodon) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: None Find Tammy at her podcast, my tiny bottles Letters of comment Chris Garcia (email) Colette Reap (email) Farah Mendlesohn (email) Ivan Sinha (Facebook) Mike Glyer (email) Niall Harrison (email) Here are Niall’s 10 recommendations for you, listeners! [Interestingly, Niall did not mention any of the translators except for one, and so I had to go and look them all up—John] A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-ran, translated by Chi-Young Kim Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda Dengue Boy by Michel Nieva, translated by Rahul Bery Sea Now by Eva Meijer, translated by Anne Thompson Melo House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones The Place of Shells by Mai Ishizawa, translated by Polly Barton Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan, translated by Jesse Kirkwood Blood for the Undying Throne by Sung-Il Kim, translated by Anton Hur Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated by Ursula Phillips Raj (Mastodon) We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, Brian Nisbet, Fredrik Coulter, Neil Ottenstein, and Sandra Bond 2027 Worldcon: Montreal bid The timeline so far: Terry Fong steps down, replaced by Darin Briskman CanSMOF adds Bruce Farr as bid co-chair Tammy writes “The Worldcon is in Trouble” on File 770 Site selection 2025 Worldcon: Seattle Business Meeting, part 1 Business Meeting, part 2: this was entirely in executive session and so none of it ended up on YouTube. Sorry, listeners! You had to be there… Further meetings will occur on 19 July and 25 July at 17:00 BST/09:00 PDT 2023 Worldcon: Chengdu Chris Barkley’s 100th column Picks John: DIE by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans and Clayton Cowles Read the first issue free! Future issues will eventually be available on Sweet Shop My First Dungeon Alison: After Us, the Flood and We Are Aliens Tammy: The Nine Worlds by Victoria Goddard The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison Credits Cover art: “Our Tiny Bottles” by Alison Scott Alt text: The words “Octothorpe 139” appear at the top and the words “…our tiny bottles…” appear at the bottom. Three bottles are drawn in the middle. The left-hand bottle is a Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge Coca-Cola bottle. The middle bottle is a bottle that looks a bit like a moose. The right-hand bottle is Bottle #18, “The Original Canton Delicate Ginger Liqueur”. Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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