154: At Least I’m Not Just Internet Shopping

John is nominating board games, Alison should read more, and Liz bought two memberships.

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
  • Andrew Hogg (Discord)
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  • Ivan Sinha (Facebook)
  • Kev McVeigh (Facebook)
  • Phil Dyson (Facebook)
  • Esther MacCallum-Stewart (Facebook)
  • Jonny Harden (Mastodon)
  • Paul Weimer (email)
  • We also heard from Brian Nisbet, Bridget Bradshaw, Els, Farah Mendlesohn, Kin-Ming Looi
• Worldcon 2026: LAcon V in Los Angeles, USA
  • Staff memberships are $100
  • Hugo nominations are open
    • Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom
    • We’re not recusing this year!
    • Best Novel:
      • On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland
      • A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
      • Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
      • Every Version of You by Grace Chan
      • The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
      • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
      • The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
      • Slow Gods by Claire North
      • Luminous by Silvia Park
      • There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
        • We believe this is eligible because (a) the version published in 2025 is different to the previously self-published version and (b) there is precedent through Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
      • When There Are Wolves Again by EJ Swift
      • The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
      • The Singing Hill Cycle by Nghi Vo
      • The Salt Oracle by Lorraine Wilson
    • Best Game/Interactive Work:
      • Newfangled electric games:
        • Blue Prince
        • Hades II
      • Good old-fashioned games:
        • The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game
        • Galactic Cruise
        • The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
        • The Old King’s Crown
        • Star Trek: Captain’s Chair
        • Star Wars: Battle of Hoth
        • Take Time
        • Vantage
  • Niall Harrison’s list of Best Translated Novels
• Fan funds
  • Eurocon 2026: Metropol Con Berlin
  • Natcon/Swancon 2026: Swancon 50 in Perth, Australia
  • The TAFF candidates are Lisa Hertel and Kat Templeton, to Metropol Con
  • The GUFF candidates are Farah Mendlesohn and Misha Sumra, to Swancon 50
  • EFF nominations close on 15 March, to Metropol Con
• Picks
  • John: Murderbot
  • Alison: The UFO 50 soundtrack
    • VVVVVV
  • Liz: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
• Credits
  • Cover art: “Alison forgot she had to do the cover” by Alison Scott
    • Alt text: Text reading “OCTOTHORPE 154* *See, it’s like this. This is the first day of 2026 that hasn’t been cold, or wet, or both, so instead of doing the Octothorpe cover I went for a nice walk. And bought no board games, but a jigsaw. And did the jigsaw. Sorry.” The text is on top of a photograph of a bridge and some trees underneath a blue sky.
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)