Octothorpe

John, Alison and Tommy are weaving ropes of fate as norns. The ropes lead to little spools, above their heads, reminiscent of a sculpture called Umbilical by Conrad Shawcross which Alison will explain in more detail in Octothorpe 146. The words “Octothorpe 145” appear at the top, and “Looking forward to Norncon” at the bottom.

Octothorpe 145 is here! This episode we talk to Tommy Ferguson, chair of Reconnect, about conrunning with a Northern Irish slant. We record 146 in 4.5 hours at the time this post goes up, so listen quickly so you can loc 😉 octothorpe.podbean.com/e/145-james-...

As a bonus, in our Discord you may encounter friends from fabulous podcasts such as @hugospodcast.com, @octothorpecast.bsky.social, and @worldbuildcast.bsky.social, all in furtherance of my ultimate goal to create the megafancast, Hugoctothorpe Building There for Girl Masochists!

Six cartoons of John as a Judge from MegaCity One with the Clarke Award logo on his helmet, all of which are identical. Beneath them follows text. 0: NO HURT. 1: HURTS A LITTLE. 2: JUST A FLESH WOUND. 3: MINOR GUNSHOT. 4: BULLET THROUGH GUT. 5: FALL OFF SKYSCRAPER. The JUDGE COXON Pain Scale™. The words “Octothorpe 144” appear at the top of the cover.

OCTOTHORPE 144 IS THE LAW. As well as a pleasing rhyme, listeners will know this heralds the episode on 2012’s DREDD! We hope you enjoy the episode, and remember: until your assessment is formally over, you’re still entitled to dispense justice. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/144-i-have...

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.

Octothorpe 143 is slightly late! We welcome Alison back to the podcast and read a bumper mailbag before getting into discussion of @seattlein2025.org, @laworldcon.bsky.social, and @montrealworldcon27.bsky.social. Our artwork is by Atom! Listen here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/143-a-majo...

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.

Octothorpe 143 is slightly late! We welcome Alison back to the podcast and read a bumper mailbag before getting into discussion of @seattlein2025.org, @laworldcon.bsky.social, and @montrealworldcon27.bsky.social. Our artwork is by Atom! Listen here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/143-a-majo...

THE SENTENCE being called “China Mieville with better editing” by @octothorpecast.bsky.social was not on my 2025 Bingo Card, but I’ll absolutely take it.

Listen to the discussion from 1hr 05mins here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/142-a-lot-...

And get the book here: www.amazon.in/Sentence-Gau...

I was on Octothorpe! We talked about a lot of stuff, including The Sentence by @gautambhatia88.bsky.social (around 1:05). It's good!

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.

Octothorpe 142 is here with stunt Alison, Lori Anderson of @hugogirlpodcast.bsky.social! We discuss some of the pronunciation snafus at the Hugo Awards Ceremony before getting into a happier discussion of panels, the winners themselves, and books. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/142-a-lot-...

Congratulations to @eightdaysofdiana.bsky.social on their Hugo win! And commiserations to the other finalists, it was a plethora of riches.

Congratulations!

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.

The title of this episode is a barefaced lie, as we read your letters and then dive into discussion of the Business Meeting. But fear not! We also do mention science fiction! Well, John does; Alison and Liz hadn’t read any this week. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/141-a-whol...

Ep 5 of Starship Alexandria is up and running - Emma proposes Bradbury’s collection Golden Apples of the Sun for my consumption. Patron bonus has us talking film & book of Master and Commander.

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.

This is another bumper episode, as we do a deep dive into the WSFS Business Meetings and then an almost equally deep dive into a little indie comic known as Superman. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/140-nerdie...

Letters of comment here with some more ideas about the Translated Hugo, and good news: sounds like the BSFA is going ahead with a (juried) award for SF in translation!

Thanks for being on, you were a delight!

Thanks so much for having me on! It was so much fun.

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”.

This episode, we welcome @tammylc.bsky.social to the podcast as our Stunt Liz! We discuss @montreal2027.bsky.social and whether they can step up to the plate, before talking about the virtual Business Meeting at @seattlein2025.org. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/139-mostly...

A famous photograph of Margaret Hamilton standing beside printed outputs of the code that took the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon, overlaid with the words “Octothorpe 138” and “Whizz-Fizz Agenda Time!”.

Octothorpe 138 is here, in which we discuss the recent changing of the @montrealworldcon27.bsky.social chair, before turning our sights to the @seattlein2025.org Business Meeting agenda. That’s right, listeners. It's Bat-Liz time.

Listen here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/138-a-tedi...

Very pleased to hear the Translated Hugo idea getting discussed here (around 22:30); more on that...soon...

An image of the well-known fantasy hero Ahmon Kwasson, holding his trusty croissant-shaped sword and his trusty croissant-adorned shield, with his trusty croissant-coloured hair, which obscures the words “Octothorpe 137”. At the bottom is text: “Ahmon’s Quest: Your perfect cosy breakfast listen”.

It’s Thursday somewhere, as episode 137 makes its debut! We read your lovely letters and then discuss in some detail how an award for Best Translated Work might be conducted. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/137-my-bra...

I think that is pretty much the only context in which we would discuss Hinckley. Ah, what a weird hotel

Liz, depicted as the Incredible Hulk, comes across a table on which lie many items of food (sketched in black and white) including John (a sausage roll) and Alison (an almond croissant), rendered in colour. The words “Octothorpe 136” appear at the top and “You won't like Liz when she's hangry” appear at the bottom.

Octothorpe 136 is now arriving! We finally have time to discuss Eastercon 2025 (Reconnect in Belfast) in more detail, and then we also discuss @seattlein2025.org, particularly the consultative votes. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/136-when-d...

A blueprint of an almond croissant with “Octothorpe 135” written at the top and “almond croissant engineering” at the bottom.

Episode 135 is here! If you like almond croissants, boy is this the episode for you. And if you don’t, well, there might be another episode eventually, eh? Listen here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/135-very-s...

A photograph of a yellow square on a mantlepiece. On the yellow square is black text and a red shape with yellow text. The text reads “Corflu 42. 2025 FAAn Awards. Best Immutable Object: Octothorpe”. Text overlaid on the photograph reads ‘Octothorpe 134. “Don’t believe everything you read on ChatGPT.”’

Episode 134 is here! We discuss the recent @seattlein2025.org controversy, and also read out some letters of comment from various listeners, before getting into the real meat of the podcast: roguelikes.

Listen here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/134-in-the...

John, Alison and Liz are sat behind a table at Reconnect doing a live podcast. The words “Octothorpe 133” appear at the bottom.

Episode 133, live from Reconnect, the 2025 Eastercon in Belfast, is here! We discuss the fun we’ve had at the convention, and also discuss other forthcoming Eastercons through to 2030. It's possibly more coherent than some other live episodes?

Listen here: octothorpe.podbean.com/e/133-i-unde...

Still at Eastercon? Don't forget Octothorpe Live!, 12.30 in Lagan B.

Octothorpe fans (Octothorpers? Octothorpies? Octothropes?) don't forget if you are at Eastercon we are having a meetup at 9pm tonight in the Hilton bar!

a graphic that says "it's official!" Worldbuilding for Masochists is a 2025 Hugo Award finalist for Best Fancast with our logo on a starry background and our faces

SO THIS HAPPENED!

We are so stoked to be a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fancast once again! That's 5x!

We couldn't do this without our amazing guests, our awesome listeners, and everyone who makes this community of worldbuilders possible!

Winners will be announced in August at WorldCon.

Best fancast announcement showing Hugo girl as a finalist!

🎉🎉🎉

Three-time finalist? I guess it's not a fluke, and it's still an amazing honor to be shortlisted with these other amazing podcasts! @hugogirlpodcast.bsky.social @worldbuildcast.bsky.social @eightdaysofdiana.bsky.social @mealofthorns.bsky.social @coodestreet.bsky.social