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)

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)

John, Alison, and Liz have stopped talking about it now.

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.

• Letters of comment
  • Andrew January (email)
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  • Dave Langford (email)
    • Reginald’s Rubaiyat by Saki
  • Doug Faunt (email)
    • Nando’s menu
  • Perrianne Lurie (email)
  • Simon Bubb (email)
    • 21Moon
    • Railway Rivals
    • Trains
  • Zara Baxter (email)
  • We also heard from Jesi Lipp, Nicholas Whyte, and Paul Weimer
• Worldcon 2026: LAcon V
  • WSFS Business Meeting recaps
    • Chris Garcia is running WOOF
  • John’s programme items
• Octocon 2026: 3–4 October
  • We are online guests! (Blog, Bluesky)
• Picks
  • John: A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-ran, translated by Chi-Young Kim
  • Alison: Spain
  • Liz: Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Summer of Sun” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: A photograph of a total solar eclipse above a beach in Northern Spain. Text reads “Octothorpe 166” in purple at the top and “SUMMER of SUN” in white at the bottom.
  • Theme music: “Surf Shimmy” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)
  • Incidental music: “Local Forecast – Elevator” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)