20 - The 2023 Chengdu Worldcon

In 2023, Worldcon took place in the Chinese city of Chengdu, the first time the event had been hosted in the country. The announcement was already met

with criticism from writers and sci-fi fans, but the event seemed to go smoothly and the Hugos were awarded as they had been for decades. Then a few months later it was discovered that the Chengdu committee has disqualified and flagged works they preemptively deemed anti-People's Republic of China, leading to botched nominees and winners. The author of Short Story Award publicly rejected her status as a winner, and so Jack and Sam discuss what happened, how easily one can be mislead into authoritarianism, and how many people had to keep making the wrong choices for this to happen at all.

Mentioned in this episode:

"Rabbit Test" by Samantha Mills

A Breakdown of the Chengdu Scandal

Emails Related to 2023 Hugo Awards Censorship

“Rabbit Test” unwins the Hugo

Next Episode: 1955's "Allamagoosa" by Eric Frank Russell

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This podcast is not affiliated with the Hugo Awards or Worldcon. Music provided by HookSounds.com, Pixabay.com, and Joel Steudler

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