Octothorpe

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)

John has a paper cut, Alison feels seen, and Liz is cheating on her homework. 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: racism and sexism (chapter 6) Letters of comment Phil Dyson Chris Garcia Bradley Harris “I listened to some of your Octothorpe podcast which was cool in general just because I like to hear the British styles of speech. Also I agree with John that Detroit-style pizza is very good. I too have some food recommendations for Chicago so you may look forward to those (if you want to get a start, look up ‘Jibarito’), yum!” Mark Plummer Hugo Voter Packets DisCon III has translated their Souvenir Book into Chinese Chengdu Worldcon has a Translation Services Working Division Chicon 8 programme participation “Chicon 8 will be using an opt-in program development model.” Data in convention planning Disney’s FastPass: A Complicated History by Defunctland Len Testa’s model of theme park behaviour Picks Alison: Everything Everywhere All at Once John: Paper cuts Liz: Raybearer (paperback, epub, audiobook, Amazon) and Redemptor (paperback, epub, audiobook, Amazon) by Jordan Ifueko Credits Cover art: Brad W Foster Image description: Illustration by Brad W Foster. Three aliens cluster around an old-style radio microphone in turquoise with a red speaker grille and green text saying “ON AIR”. The aliens from left to right are green, pink, and blue and look suspiciously like the hosts of Octothorpe. The title of the podcast is atop the artwork in orange. Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is a muppet bilby, Alison is actively drinking, and Liz MURDERS OWLS. 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), animal hunting (chapter 7) Letters of comment Malcolm Hutchison: ‘Listening to the sound John makes at start of this episode made me visualise John as a Muppet (in a good way)’ Chris Garcia Roman Orszanski Jersey Gryphon: ‘The Hello Internet podcast did a vinyl edition episode before jumping the shark and doing a 4–5 minute wax cylinder episode.’ Reclamation 2022 74 cases before tracing stopped,, all over the convention, lots of different fan networks ‘One-woman superspreader event Alison Scott has absolutely no regrets’ – Shona (Prufrax) Norwescon had case 3 and case 5 which will pass into fannish infamy A journal article discussing Omicron attack rates Fia Karlsson has won TAFF! The announcement The fanzine with the stats Follow Fia on Twitter Chicon 8 We’re all going! Picks John: Detroit-style pizza from Square John also likes this Detroit-style pizza from San Francisco that he didn’t mention Alison: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve (paperback, epub, audiobook, Amazon) Liz: Horizon Forbidden West (digital, PS4 disc, PS5 disc) Credits Cover art: Alison Scott Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John, Alison, and Liz are live from Reclamation, the 2022 Eastercon! 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 Conversation 2023 Levitation 2024 Nicholas Whyte’s blog, From the Heart of Europe No merchandise (yet) This Never Happened John’s Untappd check-in Taste of Mold Victoria Line moquette sofa Picks Liz: The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk (paperback, epub, audiobook, Amazon) John: A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger (hardback, epub, audiobook, Amazon) Credits Cover art: Duncan MacGregor Theme music: Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is a Hugo Award finalist, Alison is a Hugo Award winner, and Liz’s mum got a folk award once. 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: classism (chapter 2) Hugo Awards We are a finalist for Best Fancast We are SO EXCITED John and Alison are almost certainly going to Chicon 8 (Liz is a “maybe”) We will be thrilled to lose to any of the other finalists (especially Hugo, Girl!) Letters of comment: Ali Baker A whole emergency episode of Fantasy Book swap! Malcolm Hutchison DC Duncan MacGregor Nick Gibbins Jonny Baddeley Eastercon We are live from Eastercon at 1:30pm on Monday! The fan funds are having “amazeballs” and a silent auction Auction catalogue Register to bid Place bids The Hugo Awards Do these all look Chinese? Liz has been listening to Lifewriting by Tananarive Due and Stephen Barnes Brandon Sanderson Alex Holden’s concertinas Brandon Sanderson’s YouTube channel His confession They backed every publishing Kickstarter The project on Kickstarter It made $41m! Sanderson’s blog post about the Kickstarter Including details about how he wanted to have an alternative platform away from Amazon dominance His team is so big he has an HR director, he’s splitting that cash quite a lot of ways Tolstoy on wax cylinder Picks Rossum’s Universal Robots on BBC Radio 4 Liz: Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly (paperback, Kindle, John can’t find an alternative ebook vendor) Nice review from Lee Mandelo John: Moon Knight vol. 7 (comiXology, Marvel) Credits Cover art: WSFS/The Hugo Awards (!) Theme music: Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is dancing, Alison is listening, and Liz is Batman. 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 1), war and human rights (chapter 2) Letters of comment: Chris Garcia Everyone liked Sue’s art and everyone wants John to get better soon Liz saw a cat Jonny Baddeley is giving John his old Netrunner stuff Jonny Baddeley has questions about discos in COVID times Lori really liked Six Wakes and is going to try to convince her cohosts to add it to her schedule eventually Chengdu 2022 Human rights GoH Sergei Lukyanenko signed a letter on Ukraine Netflix distance from Cixin Liu Open letter to try and revoke the 2023 site selection Liz’s links to different indices for measuring this Democracy Index Freedom in the World Membership rates Cheap and cheaper But they are selling one without WSFS voting rights To the WSFS constitution, Bat-Liz! If you simply define a single programme item that the non-WSFS members can’t attend you don’t break the rules – win! FAAn awards The Incompleat Register has the results Congratulations to the winners! Thanks to the people who voted for us anyway even after we told you not to Picks: John bought a house Alison is listening to My Real Children by Jo Walton (paperback, epub, Kindle, Audible) Liz has read The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (hardback, paperback, epub, Kindle, audiobook) Credits Cover art: Alison Scott Theme music: Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John has COVID, Alison wanted to do a podcast, and Liz had no better offers. 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 Find a text version of our answers to Cora’s questions here! Cover art: Sue Mason Theme music: Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John, Alison and Liz have been nominated for a BSFA Award! (Also, Liz is on holiday, naturally.) 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 Chris Garcia The Flying Fantastical Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore Peter Sullivan Chris for TAFF Kin-Ming Looi Duncan MacGregor Lori Anderson Hugo deadline is March 15th We recommended some things on Cora Buhlert’s blog Tears of the Anaren by C. W. Longbottom Eastercon: What do you want from your bids? Liz: Who’s running it and why? Where and why? Are there significant drawbacks? Commitment to having code of conduct/access policies, even if they’re in progress Why will it be particularly fun? What bits of Eastercon tradition don’t you plan to implement (if any)? What are your plans for hybrid/virtual content? Do you have a good presentation that shows you have organisational nous? Alison: Expanding on who’s running the convention a little Are you running at Easter? (See Eastercon tradition) What about real ale? What are your provisions for children? John: How much will it cost? Picks Liz: The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek (hardback, epub, Kindle) John: Android: Netrunner (eBay) Alison: I Didn’t Do the Thing Today by Madeleine Dore (paperback, epub, Kindle) The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (paperback, epub, Kindle) Music credits Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 4.0 license

John is a spoilsport, Alison is promoting and Liz might come to Eastercon. 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), Spider-Man: No Way Home casting spoilers (chapter 6) Letters of comment Chris Garcia Ali Baker Mark Plummer TAFF ebooks Geri Sullivan TAFF administrators’ FAQ COVID-19 Reclamation are requiring vaccination for all attendees Hotel bookings are open, and the booking code has gone out to members Podcast corner: The Incomparable Gameshow The Incomparable #600 Become the Teapot DisCon III Tweet from Mary Robinette Kowal The proposal for Game Hugo is out! Jason Sanford is doing a survey on SF&F magazines and the pandemic to compare to his pre-pandemic data Picks Liz: Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson (paper, epub, Kindle) Alison: Loki (Disney+) John: Spider-Man: No Way Home (in cinemas) tick, tick… BOOM! (Netflix) Music credits Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 4.0 license

John is exchanging, Alison is rekindling her sensawunda, and Liz is watching the builders. Please email your letters of comment to octothorpecast@gmail.com and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media. We are fifty! That’s kind of unbelievable. Letters of comment Bill Burns Dave Coxon You can follow us on: BoardGameGeek (John, Alison) Goodreads (John, Alison, Liz) Letterboxd (John, Alison) Untappd (John, Alison, Liz) What’s our favourite beer style? Chris Garcia Peter Sullivan on Twitter Podcast corner: Liz has been listening to the Caribbean SF Podcast Brandon O’Brien Can You Sign My Tentacle? Karen Lord The Plague Doctors Convention corner: Redemption has been postponed by a year Corflu Pangloss has been postponed by six months The FAAn awards have not moved The TAFF Free eBooks page TAFF voting is here Alison says “Anders for TAFF!” John is pro-Dill Chips (Fia) Professor Esther MacCallum-Stewart’s inaugural lecture is on Dungeons and Dragons and is being streamed online The BSFA Awards Long List Thank you to whoever nominated us! The Vimes Boots index Picks John: Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey (hardback, epub, Kindle) Alison: The Actual Star by Monica Byrne (hardback, epub, Kindle) Tweet Liz: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky (paperback, epub, Kindle) Music credits Our theme music is Fanfare for Space by Kevin MacLeod, used under a CC BY 4.0 license