Even though we know that some past episodes have probably spent too much time talking about awards, our latest chat begins with some thoughts on—well, awards. With Nebulas, Hugos, Shirley Jackson, Ignyte, World Fantasy, etc., there are just too many to ignore. We soon drift off into other topics. Gary is looking forward to hosting a panel discussion at the Locus Awards, and is fascinated by Kemi Ashing-Giwa’s 2023 novel The Splinter in the Sky, which leads into a discussion of how space opera-like stories have evolved over generations, what else we’ve read lately, how short story contracts have changed lately, whether there is a dearth of core SF or just an explosion of fantasy, and why Murderbot feels more like classic SF than many franchise properties. As usual, a laser-like focus on nothing in particular.