The Farm are Liverpool indie legends and pioneers of the 90s dance-rock crossover.
Best known for their Number One album Spartacus and the anthemic hit All Together Now, they rose to fame in 1990 with a sound that fused late-80s dance rhythms with classic British pop. Instantly recognisable for their upbeat, electro-tinged energy and terrace-mod style, The Farm became cult icons of the era. Now reformed and re-energised, the band return in 2025 with Moment In Time, their first new release in over a decade, ahead of a long-awaited fifth album.

South-east London-based band known for their dark pop sound, described as a blend of early 1980s pop and 1975-esque post-modern swagger

Alistair Barrie

Alistair Barrie is one of the UK’s most in-demand comedians. Known for his biting, topical stand-up, he’s performed across the world, with acclaimed appearances at festivals in Cape Town, Melbourne, New Zealand and Edinburgh — where he’s twice been nominated for Best Show. A regular on the BBC, Times Radio and the Glastonbury stage, Alistair is also the only comic to have performed at both Labour and Conservative Party conferences. His writing credits include material for Frankie Boyle, Jason Manford and Jack Whitehall.

Joshua Bethania 

Originally from India, he began performing in 2021 and has quickly made his mark — winning So You Think You’re Funny? in 2022, King Gong at the Comedy Store, and reaching the finals of both the NATYs and BBC New Comedian Awards. In 2023, he was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Chortle Comedy Awards.

Junior Booker

Junior Booker is a comedian from South London making waves on the UK circuit.

He’s performed at top clubs across the country, including regular spots at Top Secret Comedy and Backyard Comedy, and has hosted his own successful nights around London. Junior has also appeared on Channel 4’s The Late-ish Show with Mo Gilligan.

SUPER CONNECTED: THE INDIE ROCK OPERA

Performed live to film by Tim Arnold

Super Connected™ is a live multimedia show by musician and filmmaker Tim Arnold. Combining a concept album, stage performance, and feature-length film, the show explores the human cost of Big Tech’s grip on daily life. Praised by The Times, Mojo, and The Quietus, Super Connected™ blends theatrical spectacle with urgent political commentary, described as “Radiohead meets Black Mirror.” After being banned by streaming platforms, the project gained national attention when Arnold’s campaign led to the ban being lifted in 2023.

Join Keele’s SLAM society, fresh from Uni Slam, for this introduction to spoken word poetry workshop. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIOAFIeRgpr/

This hands on workshop will explore how to build powerful, youth-led campaigns using digital tools, with a focus on the Votes at 16 movement. From crafting strong messages to choosing the right platforms, participants will learn how to turn passion into real online impact.
But this isn’t just about strategy, it’s also about perspective. The session will bring together insights from two different generations to explore how attitudes, experiences, and digital habits shape the way people engage with politics and activism. By comparing approaches, the group will unpack what resonates across age groups and what makes an issue like Votes at 16
relatable and relevant to everyone.
Participants will leave with practical tools for digital storytelling, content creation, and campaign planning, all rooted in the power of intergenerational collaboration.

Carole Cadwalladr interviews Carol Vorderman

Mic Wright

The panel aims to hear from women journalists and politicians about how social media and the internet is creating an often toxic and conspiratorial environment for their work and what can be done about it. The aim of the panels is to offer fresh perspectives and solutions rather than just focus on the problems.

Carole Cadwalladr, a British author, investigative journalist, and features writer. She was a features writer for The Observer and formerly worked at The Daily Telegraph. Cadwalladr rose to international prominence in 2018 for her role in exposing the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, for which she was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, alongside reporters from The New York Times.

Hardeep Matharu, Editor in Chief of Byline Times

Dawn Butler, a trailblazing British politician, the first elected African-Caribbean woman to become a UK Government Minister. She champions underrepresented groups, has held key roles in Parliament, and made history using British Sign Language in the Commons.

Naz Shah has been the Labour MP for Bradford West since 2015 being re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 27,019. She served as Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction, having been appointed to the role in Keir Starmer’s September 2023 reshuffle. However, she resigned from the Labour frontbench over leader Keir Starmer’s stance on Gaza, after voting in the House of Commons for a Scottish National Party amendment calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Heidi Siegmund Cuda is an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter, bestselling author, and columnist for Byline Supplement. She is co-host of the RADICALIZED Truth Survives podcast, producer/director of award-winning documentaries, and her Bette Dangerous Substack is read in 90 countries.

Kate Raworth is an economist focused on making economics fit for the 21st century’s social
and ecological realities. She is the author of the best-selling book Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to think like a 21st century economist, which has been published in over 20 languages. She is also co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab, and Senior Teaching Fellow at Oxford University’s
Environmental Change Institute.

In an era marked by relentless political upheaval, increasing polarisation, and social media ‘flooding the zone’ it’s normal to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and disillusioned. But amidst these turbulent times, there is hope — and there are effective ways to protect your mental health while staying engaged.
Led by renowned clinical psychologist Professor Deborah Christie, this empowering workshop provides practical, evidence-based strategies to help you navigate the emotional toll of political stress. Through mindfulness, cognitive resilience techniques, and community-based approaches, you will learn how to manage anxiety, restore your sense of agency, and foster sustained hope — because caring deeply about social change shouldn’t come at the expense of your well-being.
Join us to discover how to transform political anxiety from a source of despair into a catalyst for resilience and action. Together, we can remain healthy, hopeful, and effective advocates for change.

This workshop creates space to unpack what it is like to manage mental health in a digital-first world 

My Life My Say will use a special cafe workshop technique to make this a very interactive session

Bylines Network work with Carole Cadwalladr to consider the vital role of citizen journalism

with author Mike Berners Lee and Jessica Townsend (MP Watch)

Kay will look back over 125 years of gender equality legislation, and the lack of progress in actual wealth, health and power equality over that same period.

The audience will then be invited to discuss this and co-create the “Accelerating Equality Handbook”: if legislation isn’t working, how can activism help?

The aim of the panel is to highlight the problem of media fatigue on Gaza and the way that it is being ignored by politicians around the world and what can be done about it.

Peter Oborne

Alexandra Hall Hall

Peter Jukes

Asmaa' Azaizei TBC

Rachel Shabi

Thomas Barlow

Charlotte/Sneakcret, a content creator across TikTok and YouTube. Alongside a growing collective of UK political social media creators, she has built an organic following focused on political engagement, critical thinking, and media literacy

Debs Grayson is a facilitator, researcher and activist based in Sheffield who has been campaigning for a transformed media for 15 years. Debs currently works for the People's Newsroom Initiative on how storytelling can be part of a just climate transition, and is also helping convene independent publishers to negotiate with Google.

Legendary polital cartoonist will give you an insight into his work as a political cartoonist and how he creates his amazing creations and let you have a go yourself

Screening of 2073 by Academy award winning director, Asif Kapadia’s new film,

Director Q&A and discussion with Carole Cadwalladr

The recent TV series Adolescence has woken many up to the dangers of disinformation to young men these two experts will consider the dangers and more importantly what we can do about it…

James Bloodworth, author of Lost Boys

Hardeep Matharu, Editor in Chief, Byline Times

Nazir Afzal, OBE

Written by Michael Berners Lee, who consults, thinks, writes and researches on sustainability and responses to 21st century problems. He is the author of acclaimed books, including A Climate of Truth, There is No Planet B and How Bad Are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything. As founder and director of Small World Consulting he helps organisations of all sizes and sectors to address the challenges of the Anthropocene. He is a professor at Lancaster University, where his research includes supply chain carbon modelling, sustainable food systems and the environmental impact of ICT. He has made numerous speaking, radio and television broadcast appearances to promote public awareness of sustainability and climate change issues. In February 2025, he was awarded the Planet Earth Award by the Alliance of World Scientists for his work on seeking solutions to environmental challenges.

Anna Hyde