UPDATE: The Downloadable Content podcast is here if you would like to listen to it and were unable to do so live:
LIVE WEDNESDAY 9PM EST: Tune in at 9PM EST for our special guest, Vox Day! We’re going to be discussing #SadPuppies, #RabidPuppies, Entertainment Weekly, gaming, SJWs/CHORFs and more! Vox Day, Larry Correia, and Brad R. Torgersen had tremendous success with their Rabid Puppies and Sad Puppies nomination slates and swept the Hugo awards with their recommendations. We’re looking forward to hearing Day’s unique perspective on the sci-fi/fantasy community’s battle for creative and intellectual freedom!
I spoke with both vox.com and the American Spectator today, so it’s good to see that some media outlets are more responsible than Entertainment Weekly and Slate, which responded to the astonishing Sad Puppies revolution by running to John Scalzi, of all people. In fairness to Mr. Scalzi, what he said was, for once, entirely true.
As Will Shetterly points out on his blog, people have been manipulating the Hugo nomination processes for decades. (Shetterly recalls watching Orson Scott Card glad-handing his way through various gatherings, penning glowing reviews of fellow sci-fi travelers for his column, and otherwise using his superior resources to mount an effective awards campaign.) And it’s true that, in the past, authors and fans often ignited individual crusades around books they wrote or liked. Writer John Scalzi in particular was famous for opening the threads on his blog to sci-fi and fantasy scribes who wanted to remind the community that their work was Hugo-eligible. But, Scalzi told me on the phone, explicitly anointing and championing a full group of titles, while not illegal, violates convention. It is unprecedented.
Anyhow, tune into 405 Media if you’re interested. Today was hilarious, though, due to this epic clash of SJW vs Sad Puppy. It was like watch a kitten fight a riding lawnmower.
John Scalzi @scalzi
I wish Larry Corriea had the balls to admit the reason he started the Sad Puppies campaign was that he just wanted a Hugo so fucking bad.
Larry Correia @monsterhunter45
I turned down my Hugo nomination and you still didn’t make the ballot. @scalzi
