132: Almost Everything Is Not Mac
Octothorpe
Navigating Film and Community Dynamics
This chapter explores recent films and award nominations in the entertainment sector, with a particular focus on upcoming releases and personal viewing habits. It also dives into community discussions around Blaseball, board game challenges, and the complexities of the Hugo Awards, blending cultural critiques with humor and anticipation.
John, Alison and Liz discuss this year’s Hugo Awards finalists.
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
A note from John: I’ve done my level best to find useful URLs and link them below. Please let me know if there are better links or things I’ve missed!
- Best Novel
- Best Novella
- Best Novelette
- Best Short Story
- “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K Jones
- “Marginalia” by Mary Robinette Kowal
- “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo
- “Three Faces of a Beheading” by Arkady Martine
- “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M Yoachim
- “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J Kim
- Best Series
- Best Graphic Story
- The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag
- The Hunger and the Dusk, Vol. 1 by G Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose
- Monstress, Vol. 9 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
- My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Vol. 2 by Emil Ferris
- Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio
- We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans
- Best Related Work
- “Charting the Cliff: An Investigation into the 2023 Hugo Nomination Statistics” by Camestros Felapton and Heather Rose Jones
- r/Fantasy’s 2024 Bingo Reading Challenge
- “The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel” by Jenny Nicholson
- Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction and the Alt-Right by Jordan S Carroll
- Track Changes by Abigail Nussbaum
- “The 2023 Hugo Awards: A Report on Censorship and Exclusion” by Chris M Barkley and Jason Sanford
- Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form)
- Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)
- Best Game or Interactive Work
- Best Editor (Short Form)
- Best Editor (Long Form)
- Carl Engle-Laird
- Ali Fisher
- Lee Harris
- David Thomas Moore
- Diana M. Pho
- Stephanie Stein
- Best Professional Artist
- Best Semiprozine
- Best Fanzine
- Best Fancast
- Best Fan Writer
- Best Fan Artist
- Iain Clark
- Sara Felix
- Meg Frank
- Michelle Morrell
- España Sheriff
- Alison Scott
- Best Poem
- Lodestar Award
- Astounding Award
- Credits
- Cover art: “Scorching Hot Takes” by Alison Scott
- Alt text: A black background. Text in purple reads “Octothorpe 132” while text MADE OF FIRE says “Scorching hot takes on the Hugo finalists”.
- Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
- Cover art: “Scorching Hot Takes” by Alison Scott
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