Back in 2003, at the WorldCon held in Toronto, Canada – known as Torcon 3 – Joe Mahoney met Mark Rayner for the first time. Joe also had an opportunity to meet and interview John Scalzi for a radio documentary that later aired on CBC Radio's The Current.

The interview (the entirety of which is included in this episode) is a fascinating slice of history. It was John’s first WorldCon and he took an anthropological approach to understanding what was going on all around him. “It’s like a convention of misfit toys,” he says. “It’s its own self-contained things.”

As a fan and a writer of science fiction he has great observations of the whole process.

The interview prompts Mark and Joe to reminisce about the early years of the 2000s and how some authors managed to break through with new media such as blogs and podcasts.

They also reflect on their own first experiences with WorldCon. “For me it was pretty mind blowing,” Mark says, including experiencing his first panel with Robert Silverberg and David Brin, as they discussed the work of Kurt Vonnegut.

Plus – a bonus clip with Larry Niven! Not to be missed by fans of science fiction and fantasy!

For more information, check out the show notes for this episode.

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