January 15, 2026

151: Only Ding-Dong for Good and Not for Evil

1 hour 5 minutes

John is trying, Alison is watching a video and Liz is humming.

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: Global inequality (letters of comment), harassment (Montreal discussion)

Letters of comment

Christopher J Garcia (email)

“Kenya: Where Can You See Lions?”

Darin Briskman (see below)

Fredrick V Coulter (Facebook)

Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky)

Jake Casella Brookins (Bluesky) and España Sheriff

“Barbarella Meets the Matmos”

Lilian Edwards (Facebook)

Meg MacDonald (Facebook)

Paul Weimer (email)

Renay (see below)

Tammy Coxen (Bluesky)

Tommy Ferguson (emails)

We also heard from Ali Baker Brooks, Brina Nisbet, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, Kev McVeigh, Mike Scott

Smofcon 42

I’ve mirrored all the Q&As on my own Dropbox because I’m grumpy

Worldcon 2027: Montréal

They got a website!

The organisation chart

A list of blogs on the René Walling harassment incident

Genevieve Valentine’s original report

Worldcon 2026: LAcon V in Los Angeles

Join by 31 January to nominate in the Hugo Awards

Hugo Awards

Renay (of the fanzine Intergalactic Mixtape) has written a great guide on how to participate in the Hugo Awards

“Anyone Can Vote in the Hugo Awards — And Here’s How” by Molly Templeton on Reactor

“I Bet You Didn’t This Was Hugo-Eligible: Some of My 2025 Picks” by Kat Kourbeti

The Last War in Albion

Picks

John: The Umbrella Academy

Alison: KPop Demon Hunters

Liz: Astronomy Photographer of the Year

The winning photograph

Credits

Cover art: “Three Lions Relaxing” by Liz Batty

Alt text: Three lions photographed on a safari in Kenya, with glasses photoshopped onto two of them to make them look very slightly more like John and Alison. The top has words reading “Octothorpe 151” and the bottom has words reading “Definitely not about the cricket”. It is unclear why, because John edited all the cricket out.

Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

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