John is a professor, Alison doesn’t have a bucket list, and Liz is the country’s foremost fan historian.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: More wealth privilege (chapter 2)

• Letters of comment
  • Bridget Bradshaw
  • Christopher J Garcia
  • Farah Mendlesohn
  • Jonathan Cowie
  • Jonny Baddeley
  • Kin-Ming Looi
  • Sandra Bond
  • Tammy Coxen
• Awards
  • Babel wins “Best Translated Work” at the 2024 Xingyun Awards
  • Clarke Award finalists
    • John: 0, Alison: 1, Liz: 3
    • The winner will be announced on 24 July
  • 2024 Nebula Awards
  • 2023 Nebula Awards
  • Locus Awards
• Glasgow 2024
  • The Hugo Packet is now available
  • Joel’s Whisky Zoom is hosting a tour of the Clydeside Distillery on 9 August at 7pm
• Picks
  • John: Sunderland Shorts Film Festival
    • Soulmate, Beautiful Things, Ensouled, Finger Food, Bisected, Own Home?, R1CO, The First Time I Never Met You
    • Wes Anderson’s short adaptations of Roald Dahl
  • Alison: Aurora
    • Liz’s view on auroras
  • Liz: A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin [paper, ebook, audiobook, Amazon]
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Explain 2233” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Three photographs of the night sky, labelled Newcastle, Bangkok, and “Quite near London” (the labels were written by a Londoner, which is why it doesn’t just say “London”). Text above reads “Octothorpe 110” and below reads “Local Aurora Snapshots”. The Newcastle and London images show photographs of aurora with some minor bits of vegetation intruding; the Bangkok picture shows a skyline of buildings underneath a thunderstorm.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is middle, Alison is even sadder, and Liz is sorry.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Discussion of access issues (chapter 2), wealth privilege (chapter 6)

• Letters of comment
  • Abigail Nussbaum
  • Ali Baker Brooks
  • Andrew January
    • The Eastercon members’ portal
  • Caroline Mullan
  • DC
  • Farah Mendlesohn
    • Critical Friends 8
  • Jacob Holder
  • Mark Plummer
  • Meg MacDonald
• Doc Weir award
  • Dave Langford receives the trophy
    • Alt text: Dave Langford triumphantly lofts a blue Bag for Life from Tesco, which we are expected to believe contains the Doc Weir trophy. He is standing in front of a house.
• GUFF
  • The results
• Chengdu 2023
  • “The Pidu district of Chengdu announces a 10-year science fiction plan”
• Glasgow 2024
  • Town Hall Event: Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Awards Glasgow
  • Town Hall Event: Site Selection Glasgow 2024
• Eastercon and money
• Picks
  • John: Dredge
  • Alison: Hopeland by Ian McDonald (paper, epub, audiobook, Amazon)
  • Liz: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (paper, epub, audiobook, Amazon)
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Voyagers” by Ulrika O’Brien
    • Alt text: The background is a starry, lightning-filled square in blues, purples, and yellows. Atop that, there is a spaceship, somewhat like a rocket, with engines coming out of the sides. There are yellow lights shining from it, and a ladder reaches up to a central archway. John, Alison and Liz are depicted as silhouettes, regarding it with wonder. Their shadows stretch off the canvas, and they look faintly alien or futuristic in a hard-to-define manner.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John is ignorant, Alison is first, and Liz is a trendsetter.

An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, and tag @OctothorpeCast (on X or on Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: COVID (chapter 8).

• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
    • Maundy Thursday
  • Andy Openshaw
  • Nuala on Bluesky: sorry!
  • Raj recommends pizza crunch
    • Mono
  • Raj on Mastodon
    • Track Changes
  • Meg MacDonald
  • DC’s loc
• Eastercon 2024
  • Telford
    • Telford International Centre
    • KFC
  • Catchup
    • Members’ area
    • Catchup will be closing at the end of April
  • Dealers’ room
    • Beyond Cataclysm
  • COVID
    • No reported cases, as far as we are aware
• Picks
  • John: Thunder Road: Vendetta
  • Alison: Fallout (the TV series)
  • Liz: Stardew Valley
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Vibrant Food Culture” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A drawing of a blackboard with text that reads: “Octothorpe 108 guide to Glasgow street food.” A picture of a deep fried pizza with glasses is next to text reading ’The “Coxon” pizza crunch’, a picture of three pakora with glasses next to ‘The “Scott” haggis pakora’, and a picture of a deep fried Mars bar next to ‘The “Batty” deep fried Mars bar”. Stars also adorn the backboard, and bottles of red and brown sauce are in the bottom-left-hand corner.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)