Show Notes
John wasn’t overcrowded, Alison likes it small, and Liz has never been. 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: Drug use, war (John’s pick)
Letters of comment
Christopher J Garcia (email) DC (Bluesky) Els (Bluesky) Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
Premier Inns in Llandudno
Jonathan Harden (Bluesky) Nicholas Whyte (email)
“Best Related Work eligibility for the Hugo Awards”
Scott Edelman (Bluesky)
Eating the Fantastic
Tommy Ferguson (email) Trish Matson (Bluesky)
Shokz OpenSwim Pro
Alison: Raj (Mastodon) We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, aoanla, Jonathan Baddeley, Neil Ottenstein
Satellite 9
Ottoman Coffeehouse Blood on the Clocktower Bristol 1350 Codex Naturalis
Farah Mendlesohn is running a one-day event about Frances Hardinge Worldcon 2028: Former bid for Nuremberg, Germany Worldcon 2028: Bid for Brisbane, Australia
Paul Weimer (email) Clouds and stuff
UK Games Expo 2026
“UK Games Expo 2026 breaks NEC attendance records as infrastructure buckles under massive crowds” at GeekNative by Andrew Girdwood “Stupid Games, Stupid Prizes” by Tim Clare Some discourse on Bluesky
Picks
John: Starship Salvager by Jarrom Strong Alison: Hades II Liz: Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier
Game Over by David Sheff
Credits
Cover art: “Scenes of the Village” by Alison Scott
Alt text: A photograph of Portmeirion made to look like a stamp or a postcard, with words overlaid saying “Holiday greetings from Portmeirion, be seeing you…”. Above reads “Octothorpe 162” and below reads “Alison has gone on holiday again”.
Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
More from Octothorpe
John is at Fantasycon, Alison is wrong, and Liz is right. 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
John, Alison and Liz are live from Octocon! 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 X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media. Content warnings this episode: It’s a live recording!
John parties, Alison queues, and Liz betrays. 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:
John is tired, Alison is listening to music, and Liz is catsitting. 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: Clowns (Chapter 1), Hugo Award statistics (Chapter 3)
John, Alison, and Liz fix the Hugo Awards once and for all. 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: