John is working, Alison is plugging and Liz is ghosting.

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 Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Capitalism, death (Chapter 8: Picks)

• Please remember that we have recused from consideration for the 2025 Hugo Awards
• Letters of comment
  • Ali Baker Brooks (Facebook)
  • Ang Rosin (Facebook)
  • Christopher J Garcia
  • Dave Langford
    • Please do report issues in transcripts and we will fix them!
  • DC (skeet, requires sign-in)
  • Farah Mendlesohn (Facebook)
    • “Know your rail rights” from the Office of Rail and Road
  • Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
  • Pat McMurray (Facebook)
  • Shi Lala (Facebook)
  • Simon Bubb
• BSFA
  • If you attended please let us know what happened!
• Awards
  • Hugo Award nominations close the day after this podcast drops (14 March 2025)
  • Locus Award nominations are open until 15 April 2025
• Oxford–Bloomsbury Fantasy Summer School
  • Free to apply with limited in-person spaces
  • Or, wait for the streaming link! (FAQ)
• GUFF: The Incomplete Chronicles
• Liz previously described a Pepper’s Ghost at Tokyo Disneyland
  • “Disney’s Best Illusion Explained” by Zach Wally
• Picks
  • John: Shroud by Gravity Well Brewing
    • Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky
    • “Sins of the Children” by Adrian Tchaikovsky in Asterisk
  • Alison: Mickey 17
  • Liz: Hacks (Amazon Prime)
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Handwriting Analysis Special”
    • Alt text: The words “Octothorpe 130: Handwriting Analysis Special” appear three times in the three hosts’ handwriting.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)

John thought of something, Alison is educational, and Liz reads contracts.

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 Mastodon or on Bluesky) when you post about the show on social media.

Content warnings this episode: Money (chapter 3)

• Please remember that we have recused from consideration for the 2025 Hugo Awards
• Letters of comment
  • Chris Garcia
  • DC
    • On Blind Chance (skeet, requires sign-in)
    • On picking books (skeet, requires sign-in)
  • Doug Faunt
  • Farah Mendlesohn (Facebook)
• Eastercon 2025: Reconnect in Belfast
  • Cancelling non-refundable hotel rooms does not net one a refund
    • We get ourselves into knots trying to work out what’s happened here and we’re not sure
    • Alison taught John and Liz about complaining about cancellations
      • Cancelling goods or services
      • Make a court claim for money
• Worldcon 2025: Seattle
  • Virtual Business Meeting details
    • Lumi Global
    • The meetings are all at 09:00–12:30 (PDT/UTC-7) on 4, 13, 19, 25 July
  • Hugo nominations are open
    • How to nominate
• Picks
  • John: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Marc Sumerak
  • Alison: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
  • Liz: Nova by Samuel Delany
    • John Nielsen-Hall’s article, “Running up that Hill: or Life with the Brunners” appears in Prolapse #7
      • Prolapse
      • Motorway Dreams, a collection of Nielsen-Hall’s writing which includes the article
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Thailand Positioning Service” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Words read “Octothorpe 129: Can you pin Thailand on the map?” above a black-and-white world map. The backs of John, Alison and Liz’s heads are shown. John is thinking “Yup!”, Liz is thinking “100%”, and Alison is holding Thailand and thinking “???”.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)