Electric Picnic marks 20 years of Mindfield with podcasters and broadcasters targeting US "broligarchy"

Electric Picnic's Mindfield is marking 20 years of hosting live broadcasts and podcasts at the festival, with a focus on US "broligarchy".

Writer and broadcaster Dawn O'Porter, the Blindboy Podcast and comedian Dylan Moran are among the speakers in the section this year.

They will be joined by CNN Senior Correspondent Donie O'Sullivan, Happy Mondays' Rowetta, and Nicola Tallant's Crime World Podcast.

In over 120 events across six stages, organisers say "America looms over the whole weekend."

"Having celebrated 250 years on the 4th of July. Mindfield spends three days picking through what's left of the party."

With talks from Leviathan's 'Divorcing the Superpower: The US, Europe and the Next 250 Years' and 'Move Fast and Break the State: The Politics of Populism and the Broligarchy', both hosted by comedian Andrew Maxwell with panellists including Donie O'Sullivan, economist Eric Lonergan and journalists Mark Little and Jennifer O'Connell.

Other US-themed talks include 'Stealing Culture, Selling It Back: The USA at 250' with Liam Lynch and journalist Patrick Freyne.

Located in the MindField area of Electric Picnic, The Hot Press Chat Room is an essential destination for music fans in the know. In 2025, The Cranberries, Orla Gartland, Junior Brother, The Academic, Mundy, KhakiKid and Fionn Regan (among many others) stopped by for a chat and some tunes.

This year, we're back with another thrilling lineup of intimate acoustic performances, live interviews and panel discussions with some of the hottest artists in Ireland and beyond.

Already lined up are genre-bending six-piece Child of Prague, rising Waterford folk act The Wran, and brilliant alternative rock artist Ria Rua, with plenty more still to be announced. Plus - we'll be teaming up with Minding Creative Minds, Ireland's 24/7 mental health support line for anyone in the creative industry.

With Ireland holding the EU presidency, the ambassadors of Ukraine and Moldova join MEP Barry Andrews and journalist Shona Murray for 'Europe: Accession', while 'Fair Play' with the ONE Campaign asks whether Ireland can persuade the rest of Europe to invest in a common global future.

The festival will also feature talks on its core topics, with Rowetta sitting down with musician and broadcaster Tom Dunne, while Terry Christian joins Jan Brierton's Wild Words strand.

Meanwhile, there are performances by the Irish National Opera and a live broadcast of the RTÉ Radio One Brendan O'Connor Show. European gold medalist Ciara Mageean joins comedian and podcaster Jarlath Regan to speak on life, love, loss and the persistence of craic in the face of adversity.

 

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