John parties, Alison queues, and Liz betrays.
An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to comment@octothorpecast.uk, 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:
Letters of comment
Andrew January (email)
Chris Garcia (emails)
DC (Bluesky)
Ed Morland (Bluesky)
Henry Balen (Facebook)
Kevin Anderson (Bluesky)
Malcolm Hutchison (Facebook)
Steve (email)
Trish Matson (email)
We also heard from Bridget Bradshaw, Farah Mendlesohn, Ivan Sinha, Jake Casella Brookins, Kev McVeigh, Kin-Ming Looi, Mike Scott, Paul Weimer, Roseanna Pendlebury, Scott Edelman, Shi Lala, and Tammy Coxen
Octocon 2026: Cork and online
Octocon Programme
Bristolcon 2026
Left Handed Giant
The University of Liverpool’s Science Fiction Collection has been awarded Designated status by Arts Council England
Special Collections & Archives: Science Fiction Hub
Cameron Kunzelman in the Ancillary Review of Books on Joanna Russ and archives
“Archiving the Future: Preserving African Speculative Fiction” at LAcon V
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
<plokta.con> 4
Picks
John: Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Alison: The Bayeux Tapestry
Alison writes about queues
The copy held at Reading Museum
Liz: Foreigner by CJ Cherryh
Humble Bundle
Swimcast
Credits
Cover art: SKULK! by Sabrina L. Nelson, used under a CC BY-ND licence (original here)
Alt text: A photograph of various fans at LAcon V cosplaying foxes to varying degrees, including John wearing some fox ears and his wife España Sheriff wearing a fox mask. Above, orange text on a white background reads “Octothorpe 169” and below it reads “Foxes skulk at LAcon V”. For some reason, Adobe Photoshop is convinced I’ve used an AI-generated image, but given it’s a photograph and some text Adobe Photoshop can get in the sea.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
10 Sept 2026
168: It’s a Very Little Cat
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 comment@octothorpecast.uk, 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)
Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
Hugo Awards
Results
Full Statistics
Administrator’s Report
Hugo Awards Ceremony on YouTube
Southside Symphony
Robert Jackson Bennett on the award speeches
Hugo, Girl!
Program guide
Worldcon Photos on Flickr
Worldcon 2028: Aussiecon 5
Picks
John:
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Recollections by Christopher Priest
Alison: Little, Big by John Crowley
Liz: Sublimation by Isabel J Kim
Credits
Cover art: “Love Is In the Air” by IHOP Photographer
Alt text: A photograph of John and Duncan MacGregor taken at an IHOP near the Hilton Anaheim. They are turned to look at each other in a booth. Their facial expressions are difficult to read, but hearts overlay the picture and so we surmise they are in love. Faces of bystanders are pixellated for privacy purposes. Words above the photo read “Octothorpe 168” and below read “Love is in the air at LAcon V”.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
27 Aug 2026
167: Way More Fun Than the Actual Hugos
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 comment@octothorpecast.uk, 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:
Letters of comment
Alison: Mike Scott (Facebook)
“How is Inventing the Renaissance an SFF-Related Work?” by Ada Palmer
Liz: Tammy Coxen (Bluesky 1, Bluesky 2)
John: Heather Rose Jones (Facebook)
The Brand-New, Definitely-WSFS-Approved Hugo Award® Rosters!
Alison
Novel: Redefined to be 60,000+ words, awards to author and editor
Dramatic Presentation (Short Form): Redefined to standalone works
Vibes: Best thing that seems like it should be genre but isn’t
New Writer: Redefined as a debut in the last three years, has never won a Hugo Award (!)
Fan: No previous winners, no professionals (with some caveats)
Original Artwork: Flat art and sculpture
John
Game or Interactive Work
Dramatic Presentation (Television): Nominating series, no standalone episodes
Novella: Refined to be up to 60,000 words, awards to author and editor
Related Work: Redefined to render conventions and things that exclusively happen at conventions ineligible
Fancast: It’s perfect just the way it is
Fan Artist: Defined “properly”
Liz
Dramatic Presentation (Moving Picture): Redefined to exclude TV series somehow
Publisher
Neon Hemlock
Haikasoru
Series: Redefined to let series of above a number of volumes on, even under the 240,000 word count (the Nghi Vo amendment)
[I SAID IT AND I MEANT IT—John]
Short Story/Novelette: Redefined to be shorter than 15,000 words, award to author only
Community Benefit: Works by the community which exist to benefit the community
Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom
AO3
Con or Bust
Video Essay: Non-fiction works in video format
Credits
Cover art: “Summer of Fungi” by España Sheriff
Alt text: An watercolour of three pink mushrooms growing on the trunk of a tree. The words “Octothorpe 167” appear at the top, and “summer of fungi” appear at the bottom. The listener is left to discern which mushroom represents which co-host.
Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
Who has been a guest on Octothorpe
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Chris Garcia
Vince Docherty
Vanessa May
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 34 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
34
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
85
Contact Octothorpe
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Octothorpe
Who hosts Octothorpe?
Alison and John and Liz host the show. Published by John Coxon, Alison Scott, Liz Batty.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Octothorpe take guests?
The show does not typically feature guests, based on episode analyses.
Host of Octothorpe?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
