Octothorpe

By John Coxon, Alison Scott, Liz Batty

A podcast about science fiction and SF fandom from John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty.... more

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66 ratings

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FAQs about Octothorpe:

How many episodes does Octothorpe have?

The podcast currently has 133 episodes available.

Octothorpe episodes:

August 04, 202263: Nonsense Divide
John has a button, Alison has a venue, and Liz once saw a computer that had been in Chris’s car.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: COVID (chapter 2), death at a young age (chapter 6).
Letters of comment
Chris Garcia
Roman Orszanski
Paul Weimer
Bridget Bradshaw
FantasyCon
It was cancelled
They had sold 200 memberships, but needed 400 and were £24k short
It was uncancelled
You can join the new iteration here
Arthur C Clarke Awards
The shortlist is out
The Scotsman reviewed Deep Wheel Orcadia
Conversation has a venue now!
Chicon Fringe
Picks
John: Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic (Steam, Switch, Xbox, iPad)
No PlayStation version, probably because of the coming remake?
The remake has been “paused indefinitely”
Alison: “In the Black Fantastic” at the Hayward Gallery
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Liz: The Great Potato War
Credits
Cover art: “Assorted Jedi” by Alison Scott
Alt text: Three humanoid figures hold lightsabers and stand against a futuristic cityscape reminiscent of Coruscant. The leftmost looks like John, but is clad in the clothes of Luke Skywalker. The middle figure looks like Alison, but she’s green and looks quite a lot like Yoda. The rightmost looks like Liz, clad in the clothes of Rey Skywalker. The words “Octothorpe 63” adorn the top of the image in the distinctive typeface of Star Wars.
Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
...more
44min
July 21, 202262: Do You Want to Talk About Lesbians?
John has superpowers, Alison is an alien in a human suit, and Liz likes cats.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: being stranded in space (chapter 1); sexism (chapter 2); Hell and murder (chapter 5).
No letters of comment this week, normal service resumes next week!
Books in the order they were discussed
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers
She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan
Light From Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki
A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine
What book would we have put on the list instead?
John: The Psychopath Club by Sandra Bond
Alison: The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
Liz: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
John’s ranking:
A Desolation Called Peace
Light From Uncommon Stars
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
A Master of Djinn
She Who Became the Sun
Project Hail Mary
Alison’s ranking:
A Desolation Called Peace
Light From Uncommon Stars
She Who Became the Sun
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
A Master of Djinn
Project Hail Mary
Liz’s ranking:
A Desolation Called Peace
She Who Became the Sun
A Master of Djinn
Light From Uncommon Stars
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
Project Hail Mary
Consensus ranking:
A Desolation Called Peace
Light From Uncommon Stars
She Who Became the Sun
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
A Master of Djinn
Project Hail Mary
Credits
Cover art: “Favourite Reading Positions” by Sue Mason
Alt text: John is in the bottom-left, sitting in a chair, wearing a blue shirt and purple trousers, holding a can, and reading an ebook. Alison is in the upper-middle, lying down upside down, wearing a purple shirt and stripy trousers, and reading an ebook. Liz is in the bottom-right, wearing a pink shirt with green trousers, holding a mug of a hot beverage, and reading a physical book. They are surrounded by floating beer bottles, books, the Moon, a mug with a moose on it, and two cats. The words “Octothorpe 62” appear in scattered letters around the artwork, against a pinky-purple background.
Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
...more
1h 27min
July 07, 202261: That Little Voice in Your Head
John has a hat on, Alison is taking the baton, and Liz twirls.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: COVID-19 (chapter 2)
Letters of comment
Chris Garcia
The Drink Tank
Sci-Fi Short of the Week
DUST
Andrew January
Roman Orszanski
Duncan McGregor and cDave on Twitter
Raj sent a nice message on Twitter as well
Fran Dowd
Celluloid Screams
Fear2000
Sheffield DocFest
The Festival of Fantastic Films
Farah Mendlesohn
Science Fiction Research Association
Octothorpe COVID Round-Up
WisCon’s post-con COVID report
Andrew Plotkin’s write-up of Scintillation
The Hugo Awards’ 25% rule
WSFS Constitution (see §3.12.2)
Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk’s proposal to remove this clause
Picks
John: Elgato Stream Deck Mini
Alison: Cricket
Liz: Kevin
Interactive Fiction
Spider and Web
Credits
Cover art: Robots by Alison Scott
Alt text: Three round robot vacuum cleaners on a wood panel floor in a triangle formation. The lower-left one has glasses like John’s and looks like it’s open-mouthed; the upper-centre one has glasses like Alison’s and looks like it’s smiling; the lower-right one has no glasses like Liz and looks like it’s smiling. The text “Octothorpe 61” appears above the robots.
Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
...more
47min
June 23, 202260: Different Types of Tedium
John is going to brunch, Alison watched a film, and Liz is critical.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] and tag @OctothorpeCast when you post about the show on social media.
Content warnings this episode: None
Letters of comment
Kevin Standlee and Tammy Coxen
Bridget Bradshaw
Chris Garcia
Unofficial Hugo Book Club on Twitter sent us a graph
Catherine Crockett
Transcripts on eFanzines
Subtitles on Podbean - Jonathan Cowie asked “What special Hugo would we introduce if we were in charge at Glasgow?”
Alison: Best Transcript
Liz: Best Non-Fiction/Best Criticism
John: Best Short Film or Best Dramatic Presentation (Very Short Form)
Alison (seriously): Best Dramatic Presentation (Audio Form)
Hugo voting is now open until August 11th
Picks
John: Moon Knight (Disney+)
Alison: ABBA: Voyage
Pepper’s Ghost
Liz: [PICK REDACTED]
Credits
Cover art: DALL-E, courtesy of Bridget Bradshaw
Alt text: A three-by-three grid of images generated by DALL-E with the prompt “cover art for Octothorpe podcast”. They are quite surreal, often involve figures, and are mostly in shades of green and pink with one black and white one. They almost give an impression of Lovecraftian tutti-frutti.
Theme music: ‘Fanfare for Space’ by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
...more
48min
June 09, 202259: Chickens
John is roast beef, Alison is pickled onion, and Liz is flamin’ hot.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] 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)
...more
47min
May 26, 202258: Oh No! Really? Pancakes
John has a paper cut, Alison feels seen, and Liz is cheating on her homework.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] 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)
...more
1h
May 12, 202257: Back Bacon is Best
John is a muppet bilby, Alison is actively drinking, and Liz MURDERS OWLS.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] 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)
...more
55min
April 28, 202256: Sorry, Am I Supposed to Be Recording This
John, Alison, and Liz are live from Reclamation, the 2022 Eastercon!
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] 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)
...more
50min
April 14, 202255: Beatboxing Champagne
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 [email protected] 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)
...more
47min
March 31, 202254: Embrace the Sweat
John is dancing, Alison is listening, and Liz is Batman.
Please email your letters of comment to [email protected] 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)
...more
52min

FAQs about Octothorpe:

How many episodes does Octothorpe have?

The podcast currently has 133 episodes available.

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