Balticon 51 ends today, but the fun doesn’t have to be over—because on Saturday, I interviewed a baker’s dozen of attendees about their favorite Balticon memories. And I did it over donuts!

(If you’re a regular listener and were therefore anticipating Episode 39 to be the previously announced dinner with Elizabeth Hand, don’t worry—that’s still planned to appear on June 9. But I thought it fitting that the Balticon episode go live now, to help assuage the sadness some might be feeling as they bid farewell to Baltimore for another year.)

Since last July’s Readercon Donut Spectacular episode of Eating the Fantastic has proven to be so popular, I thought I’d try harvesting memories about another long-running con, and so plopped myself down in a high-traffic area of the Balticon hotel with a dozen Diablo Donuts. But first, I shared this photo on social media so the hungry hordes would know to be on the lookout for me.

Most episodes of Eating the Fantastic involve deep-dive interviews with a single guest, so for the most part, I’m in control, but with something like this, you never know what’s going to happen, because I don’t choose the guests, the guests choose me. But I consider that controlled chaos a feature, not a bug, and think you’ll like what those who did sit down for a bite and a chat had to say about their decades—and in one case, mere hours—attending the con.

Listen as 13 guests begin Balticon’s second half-century with a dozen Diablo Donuts and reminisce about the time George R. R. Martin pretended to beat one of them to death with a cane, how a live birth almost ended up as part of the science programming, why it’s so wonderful to be able to make a Star Trek joke and have people get it, Allen Steele’s wonderful depiction of the 1939 Worldcon in his novel Arkwright, Marty Gear’s indispensable rule for self-care during convention-going, plus more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop as my guests dig into their donuts—

1) Subscribe over at the iTunes store, where you’ll find all 38 previous episodes as well.

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3) Or … simply click and listen below.

And here’s who shared fond memories from Balticons past and present.

K. M. Szpara
Cocoa Pebbles

Michael M. Jones
S’mores

Dave Slusher
Cookies ‘n’ Cream

Art “Boots” Collins
Blackberry Lime

Sarah aka “Life of Cosplay”
Unicorn Farts

El Securador
Strawberry Cheesecake

Greg
Maple Bacon

Alexandra Kelly

Matt aka “Fish”
Sin Crunch

Karen Osborne
Pineapple Cilantro

Elora Malat
Toasted Cocoanut

Sandy Stewart
Salted Caramel

Sam Lubell
Orange Pistachio

Next up—that StokerCon interview with Elizabeth Hand, during which (I promise) no donuts were consumed.

A reminder—if you like what you hear and would like to help cover some of Eating the Fantastic’s costs—such as travel, hosting, meals, and more more, check out how you can do just that over on Patreon.

Or, if you’d prefer, make a one-time donation via Paypal.me.

Many thanks to my wonderful supporters and listeners, some of whom made themselves known during Balticon.

See you next episode!