(1) SPACE RACISM. Jamie Sutcliffe focuses on Hugo-winner Speculative Whiteness in “Space Racism: How the Right Captured Science Fiction” at ArtReview.
…Thankfully, there’s a recent spate of popular but rigorous scholarship that tracks the sci-fi beliefs of the reactionary right with equal parts sniping humour and pragmatic urgency, from Gil Duran’s web resource The Nerd Reich to comedian Kate Willett and academic Emile P. Torres’s rousing podcast Dystopia Now. My attention has been particularly drawn to the work of Jordan S. Carroll, whose book Speculative Whiteness: Science Fiction And The Alt-Right (2025) documents the insidious recuperation of science fiction by racists and conspiracy nuts. In his telling, he cites myths of white interstellar heroism and the threat of a ‘great replacement’ in which white people are supposedly facing extinction through interracial relationships. It makes for harrowing but necessary reading, and its contributions to the field have recently been recognised with a prestigious Hugo award for Best Related Work in an award process that has historically honoured writers as challenging and diverse as Charlie Jane Anders, Philip K. Dick, Cixin Liu, Tamysn Muir, Dan Simmons and Emily Tesh.
Speculative Whiteness illuminates a shadow history that throws the often idealistic hopes of progressive science-fiction cultures into stark and unstable relief. Since Ursula K. Le Guin suggested that science fiction’s fundamental role was to imagine alternatives to capitalism, progressively inclined writers and artists, myself included, have strip-mined the late author’s 1986 essay ‘The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction’ ad nauseam (often pairing it with the writings of Octavia Butler) in search of conceptual resources that offer empathic and ecologically sustainable toolsets for artmaking and community formation in a world of accelerated capital: racialised, carceral and terminally extractive. Carroll’s book tells a startling counternarrative of what the right was up to while these admittedly noble efforts were underway. And while the alt-right no longer exists in the form that buoyed Donald Trump’s first ascension to power – a turning point that Carroll locates in the Charlottesville demonstrations of 2017, beyond which it morphs into various shades of MAGA fanaticism, Q-inflected conspirituality or poisonous tributaries of the manosphere – its ideological legacy can be traced in the tangle of beliefs that constitute the tech solutionism that seems to define the present moment, from the exclusivity of transhuman enhancement to the apartheid imaginaries of intergalactic migration….
(2) MONTRÉAL WORLDCON 2027. Here’s their own official press release.
The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) has officially announced that Montréal, Quebec, will host the 85th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in 2027. The decision was reached by a success vote at the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle
The convention, officially titled “Montréal Worldcon 2027”, will take place September 2-6 2027, at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, located in the heart of downtown Montreal. This marks the second time Worldcon will be held in Montréal, following the success of Anticipation in 2009.
Montréal is a vibrant, multicultural city with a deep love for science fiction, fantasy, and speculative arts. Our freshly minted convention committee looks forward to welcoming fans, authors, artists, and creators from around the world to celebrate the best of science fiction and fantasy.
Worldcon is the world’s longest-running science fiction and fantasy convention, first held in 1939. The event features the presentation of the Hugo Awards, the most prestigious honors in the genre, alongside panels, workshops, art shows, film screenings, cosplay, and more.
Montréal’s bid emphasized its great location, exceptional facility and experienced bid committee. The Montréal Worldcon 2027 convention will work to be inclusive and globally engaged, with programming in both English and French and a focus on our genre interest
The Montréal Worldcon 2027 team will now begin transitioning into a full organizing committee. Information on memberships, hotel blocks, guests of honor, and volunteer opportunities will be released in the coming months at www.montreal2027.org.
(3) FANTAGRAPHICS ‘WE’VE BEEN ROBBED’ SALE. [Item by Daniel Dern.] The collapse of Diamond Comics Distributors has devolved into economic disaster for many of the publishers and (re)sellers, and, in turn, for the creative artists/authors and others. Here’s your chance to help out one — Fantagraphics — least a little, by grabbing some quick bargains.
Fantagraphics has lots of great stuff. For example, their multiple volumes of Pogo/Complete Syndicated Comic Strips! Also some nice Krazy Kat(s), Undergrounds, Peanuts, Barnaby, Love & Rockets, and more!
Here’s their blog post with more info: “The Fantagraphics ‘We’ve Been Robbed’ Sale”.
And here’s key paragraphs from today’s email:
EVERYTHING’S DISCOUNTED!
In case you haven’t heard, Diamond’s bankruptcy has been a nightmare for comics publishers: unpaid bills for months and even worse, our own inventory being pirated and sold to pay off JP Morgan Chase (you can find more info about this on our blog). We could use some help covering our losses to date.
So we’re offering 30% off everything on Fantagraphics.com now through 8/25 during our “We’ve Been Robbed” Sale!
All order fulfillment subject to availability. Due to increased order volume, please allow an extra 7-10 days for shipping and handling. Sale discounts can not be combined with any other promotions. Free shipping offers do not apply.
If you’re one of our loyal readers, we ask that you navigate our website and see if there aren’t a few books that you’ve been itching to buy. If you’ve never bought a Fantagraphics book, welcome to the home of artists as varied as Charles M. Schulz, Emil Ferris, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, R. Crumb, Carl Barks, Moto Hagio, Guido Crepax, Simon Hanselmann, Laura Pérez, John Kenn Mortensen, Kago, Eleanor Davis, Daniel Clowes, Tommi Parrish, Joe Sacco, Carol Tyler, Jason, Gary Panter, Trina Robbins, Paco Roca, Olivier Schrauwen, Liniers, and many more.
(4) YOU’RE THE TOPS. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki pointed out to his Facebook followers: “Turns out I’m in the top 30 highest…”
Turns out I’m in the top 30 highest ranked SFF anthology editors of all time. With mostly small press & self published anthologies. All from, in this poverty capital of the world. In a mere 5 years. With most people there doing this with the biggest institutions on earth, for longer than I have been alive. And 20 of the top 30 dead. I’ll also be the youngest and only Black person on the top 30. I guess I haven’t done too terribly.
(5) DIGITAL SECOND HOME FOR OOP WORKS. SFWA was announced the Heritage Author Republication Project:
The Heritage Author Republication Project (HARP) is everything community uplift should be: an opportunity for writers from different backgrounds to come together to network and share vital professional skills.
When the open call for mentees opens on October 1, HARP will be on the hunt for SFWA members with out-of-print works, who are looking to find a “second home” for their materials in digital form, but need some help learning or mastering key parts of the process.
(6) BRADBURY’S FAVORITE PIANO MOVERS. Phil Nichols has a new episode of Bradbury 100 Live — “Laurel and Hardy and Ray Bradbury!”
To celebrate [Ray Bradbury’s birthday on August 22], here’s a new Bradbury 100 Live! in which I discuss Ray’s favourite comedy act, Laurel and Hardy. Stan and Ollie turn up again and again in Ray’s stories, and I’ve tracked down as many appearances as I can.
I decided to do this as a visual episode – hence the Bradbury 100 Live! tag – so you can see “the boys” in action, as well as see some of Ray’s words as written.
However, warns Phil, “The occupational hazard of using movie clips within YouTube is that you get hit with copyright strikes, even if your use of said clips falls under ‘fair use’… So right now, the visual version is not viewable in some parts of the world.”
(7) MORE ON F&SF COVER. As reported in the Scroll for 8/21/25 (item #1), the cover of the next issue of F&SF is being pulled because it is alleged to have AI art.
According to a social media post by former publisher/editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Gordon Van Gelder, “The artists who created the illo for the F&SF cover are Mondolithic Studios, who have used computers for decades in creating their illustrations.”
Their website is: Mondoworks – Mondolithic Studios.
(8) PAST WORLDCON CHAIRS. The video of the 2025 Worldcon Chairs Photo Session has been posted.
The traditional gathering of chairs of the World Science Fiction Convention, held at Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Videography by Kayla Allen. Equipment supplied by Lisa Hayes
(9) FUTURE WORLDCON BIDDERS. The video of the “Future Worldcon Bidders Panel at Seattle Worldcon 2025” is also available.
Presentations and Q&A for bids for the 2027 through 2030 Worldcons: 2027: Montréal, Québec. Canada 2028: Brisbane, Australia; Kigali, Rwanda 2029: Dublin, Ireland 2030: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.
[Written by Paul Weimer.]
August 24, 1915 — James Tiptree, Jr. (Died 1987.)
By Paul Weimer: I first came across the work of Alice Sheldon, James Tiptree Jr, in a collection of short stories called Protostars. The idea was to showcase up and coming writers. Of course, I read this collection in the late 1980’s, and the actual anthology is from 1971. So in addition to stories by Andrew Offutt and Pamela Sargent, was a story by James Tiptree Jr (which the editor was fascinated that no one knew I anything about “him”) called “I’ll Be Waiting for You when the Swimming Pool is Empty”
It’s a story about a Terran who civilizes a backwater planet, and inadvertently starts them on the way to civilizing the galaxy. It’s a strange Andover weird story but I didn’t think about Tiptree for a while and didn’t even know that at the time I had read the story, Tiptree was, in fact, already dead.
I started coming across more of Sheldon/Tiptree’s work here and there and found it fascinating. I got the secret of who Tiptree was, and then kept coming across more speculation of who Tiptree was in older anthologies. The incredible story of her biography, though, even more than just her identity, is something that I got in drips and drabs for years. It’s strange to have encountered the author’s work this way, but given the uniqueness of Tiptree in this regard, perhaps it is fitting?
So in this very weird and patchwork way, I have been slowly reading her oeuvre and its often unsettling stories, with its logical conclusions. “The Screwfly Solution”. “Houston, Houston, Do You Read”. “The Women Men Don’t See”. And many others. Again, I found her work sometimes razor sharp wit and intellect a bit frightening in her work. I haven’t read a full collection of her work, and I know I have gaps in my reading of her stories. I am going to have to rectify that someday, aren’t I?
(11) COMICS SECTION.
- Carpe Diem lacks a sense of wonder.
- Strange Brew finds inspiration.
(12) MARVEL TRUE FACT.
(13) DON’T TAKE A LETTER MARIA. “Denmark ending letter deliveries is a sign of the digital times” reports BBC.
…The steep decline in letter volumes has been driven largely by digitalisation, and PostNord announced in March that it will cease letter services at the end of the year.
It will bring to an end four centuries of letter deliveries by the state-owned operation.
A third of its workforce is being let go, as it sheds 2,200 positions in its loss-making letter arm. Instead it will focus on its profitable parcel business, creating 700 new roles.
“Danes hardly receive any letters anymore. It’s been going down for years and years,” says Kim Pedersen, chief of PostNord Denmark. “They’re receiving one letter a month on average, it’s not a lot.”
“On the contrary, Danes love to shop online,” he adds. “Global e-commerce is growing significantly, and we are moving with it.”…
(14) SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU’VE GOT ‘EM. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] Look, I have never forgiven the dinosaurs for what they did to Raquel Welch, but that notwithstanding one cannot argue that our early ancestors had a tough time. 25,000 years ago, for example, was the height of the last glacial: the last glacial maximum — the coldest part of the current interglacial-glacial cycle. Our forebears out of Africa, in Europe and Asia had to face extreme cold.
Using an ocean sediment core, scientists have now looked for special carbon particles that indicate fires and they have found a significant rise in such particles 50,000 years ago. This suggests that humans use of fire was by then sufficiently widespread to have an impact on the carbon cycle before the last glacial maximum.
The primary research is here: “Onset of extensive human fire use 50,000 y ago” at PNAS.
(15) HOME ON THE ASTEROID RANGE. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] Could the asteroid Ceres – one of the largest in the Solar system – have been home to life? According to a small collaboration of US scientists in a paper in the journal Science Advances the answer could well be ‘yes’!
They created a coupled chemical and thermal evolution model tracking Ceres’s interior, aqueous environment through time. Initially, when it formed, its core would have been hot molten lava. Since then it slowly cooled but for a while it sported a liquid ocean. This would have existed for between ~0.5 and 2 billion years after Ceres’s formation. Since then, Ceres’s ocean has likely become a cold, concentrated brine with fewer sources of energy, making it less likely to be habitable at present.
Given that life on Earth got going well before it was a billion years old, this time frame is not unrealistic. Having said that, I personally am not that convinced. As far as we know (there may be unknown chemical routes) the synthesis of nucleic acids from abiotic, simple molecules requires both UV light and occasional partial dryng out, making the likely origin of life sites to be land-based thermal pools rather than deep sea vents. Still, the notion of potential life having been on Ceres is interesting (albeit, in my view, unlikely).
The primary research is here.
(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. Bookborn does short standups for “Famous authors answer quickfire questions at Worldcon 2025” on YouTube.
Had an incredible opportunity to talk to some of my favs (and some of the biggest names in fantasy right now) at Worldcon in Seattle. It was great digging into these great minds! 00:00 09:20 – Fonda Lee (Greenbone Saga) 01:29 – Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl) 02:54 – Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive) 04:46 – Travis Baldree (Legends and Lattes) 05:32 – Peter V. Brett (The Warded Man) 07:06 – Ryan Cahill (Of Blood and Fire) 07:51 – Wesley Chu (Lies of Tao) 08:44 – Robin Hobb (Realm of the Elderlings) 10:12 – Peter Orullian (The Unremembered) 12:03 – Lynn Buchanan (Dollmakers) 12:55 – Andy Peloquin (Queen of Thieves)
[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Kayla Allen, Angela Jones, Daniel Dern, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Dan’l.]
