John is going to Smofcon, Alison has FOMO, and Liz is a horrible person.

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
  
  
  
  • Andreas Davour (email)
  
  
  • Chris Garcia (email)
  
  
  • Ed Morland (BlueSky on 147, 148)
    
    
    
    • Cyclo-cross
    
    
    • Mathmo.org
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Emily January (email)
  
  
  • Karen Schaffer (email)
    
    
    
    • Literal antivirus
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Paul Weimer (email)
    
    
    
    • Centrale Montemartini
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • We also heard from Alan Fleming, Ali Baker Brooks, Andrew Thompson, Brian Nisbet, Bridget Bradshaw, DC, Duncan MacGregor, Ivan Sinha, Jan Harley, Kev McVeigh, Malcolm Hutchison, Mike Scott, Neil Ottenstein, Shi Lala, and Tommy Ferguson
  
  
  • Famous Belgians: Simon Stevin
  
  
  
  


• Smofcon 2025: Smofcon 42 in Stockholm, Sweden
  
  
  
  • Smofcon Q&As
    
    
    
    • Salute of the Jugger
    
    
    • How to stream it in the UK
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • John would like to thank Glasgow 2024 for a travel bursary allowing him to attend!
  
  
  
  


• Novacon 2026: Novacon 55 in Buxton
  
  
  
  • Una McCormack
  
  
  
  


• Picks
  
  
  
  • John: The Truman Show
  
  
  • Alison: Pluribus
  
  
  • Liz: The Summer War by Naomi Novik
  
  
  
  


• Credits
  
  
  
  • Cover art: ”Archaeologists“ by Alison Scott
    
    
    
    • Alt text: John and Alison, dressed in clothes reminiscent of The Mummy, look down some stairs upon Liz’s tomb, in which her skeleton still holds her Hugo Award, framed by stonework. The words “Octothorpe 149” appear at the top of the image.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)