Season 1, Episode 7: The Great 2023 Hugo Awards Controversy ft. Diane Lacey

Welcome to the first episode of Wizards & Spaceships to pass the Bechdel Test!

In 2023, the Hugo Awards, administered by the World Science Fiction Society, were rocked by scandal. That year, the convention was hosted in Chengdu, China, and a number of popular and acclaimed works, from R. F. Kuang’s Babel to Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow, were deemed ineligible…even though they had enough nominations to appear on the ballot. The controversy engulfed the world of speculative fiction, but what really happened? In this episode, we talk to WorldCon whistleblower Diane Lacey to get her take on what went wrong, who’s to blame, and what we can learn from this moving forward.

Show notes:

• Diane’s letter about the 2023 Hugos
• Kampon 2028
• Chris M. Barkley and Jason Sanford’s report on the 2023 Hugos