John is on holiday, Alison said she’d have T-shirts ready, and Liz is back!

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: None

• Letters of comment
  • Doug Faunt (Facebook)
    • Corflu 2026: Corflu Pickled in Santa Rosa, CA, USA
  • Ian Hillman (DM)
  • Jonny Baddeley (Facebook)
• Eastercon 2026: Iridescence in Birmingham
  • Hotels are open: Check your emails for the link
  • Merch should be available by the time you read this
  • Bursaries are open for applications, deadline of 31 October
  • The volunteer form is open
  • Haruhicon 2026: Birmingham
  • Carrots, vitamin A, radar, and British propaganda
• BristolCon 2025
• World Fantasy Con 2025: Brighton
• Armadacon 2025: Plymouth
  • British Firework Championships
• Novacon 2025: Novacon 54 in Buxton
• Pictcon 2025: Pictcon1 in Perth
• Satellite 2026: Satellite 9 in Glasgow
• Worldcon finances
  • Worldcon 2013: LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, TX, USA
  • Worldcon 2015: Sasquan in Spokane, WA, USA
  • Worldcon 2016: MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City, MO, USA
  • Worldcon 2020: CoNZealand in Wellington, New Zealand (but mostly online)
  • Worldcon 2023: Chengdu, China
  • Worldcon 2024: Glasgow, UK
    • Smofcon 2025: Smofcon 42 in Stockholm, Sweden
• Picks
  • John: Tactical Breach Wizards
  • Alison: Here East
    • Conrad Shawcross – Umbilical (The Nervous System)
    • V&A East Storehouse
  • Liz: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Treasures of the V&A Storehouse” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: The Torrijos Ceiling at the Victoria & Albert East Storehouse. An elaborate, gilded and octagonal ceiling. Why yes, Alison has a new phone, how could you tell?
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)