153: Bowling Captain Kirk for a Duck

John is volunteering, Alison is saying “no”, and Liz read her first book! An uncorrected transcript of this episode is available here. Please email your letters of comment to [email protected], 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 Alexandra Lanes (Bluesky) Ali Baker Brown (Bluesky) Chris Garcia (email) Fiona Moore (Facebook) Ivan Sinha (Facebook) Kin-Ming Looi (Facebook) Kev McVeigh (Facebook) Paul Weimer (email) Roseanna Pendlebury (Bluesky) Scott Edelman (Bluesky) The convention never ends Tommy Ferguson (Facebook) We also heard from Farah Mendlesohn, Fredrik V Coulter and Mike Scott SMOFcon 2026: SMOFcon 43 in Lisbon, Portugal Worldcon 2028: Bid for Nuremberg, Germany “Nuremberg in 2028 Worldcon Bid Unveils Website” on File 770 Worldcon 2028: Bid for Kigali, Rwanda They are withdrawing from the process Join the “Worldcon in Africa” mailing list Worldcon 2029: Bid for Dublin, Ireland Fan funds Transatlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) Kat Templeton has announced her candidacy Ansible #463 reported that the ballot would be online “soon” Going Under Fan Fund (GUFF) Nominations are now open and close on 18 February! Picks John: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Alison: Anbernic RG 34XXSP Liz: There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm The SCP Foundation Antimemetics FAQ ROT13 Credits Cover art: “Alison the White” by Alison Scott Alt text: A picture of Alison with white hair, wearing a white dressing gown, and wielding a staff with a moose head. John and Liz flank her. She says “Behold! I am reborn as Alison the White!” John says “That’s a bit dramatic… it’s only a haircut” and Liz says “Pretty sure that’s a dressing gown… and are you standing on a box?” The words Octothorpe 153 are at the top. Theme music: “Fanfare for Space” by Kevin MacLeod (CC BY 4.0)