The What Podcast

How do you play a mushroom? This week we're joined by Tarun Nayar of Modern Biology, a Vancouver-based musician who uses bioelectric signals from mushrooms, plants, and other living organisms to create music. Using custom-built devices and synthesizers, Tarun translates biological activity into musical information, creating performances that blend science, technology, improvisation, and art.

We talk about how he discovered plant and mushroom sonification during the pandemic, the history of bioelectric music, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp's influence on generative music, and what we can expect when he performs in a cave at CaveFest next month. (get tickets here!)

Plus we catch up with Abby, the winner of our CaveFest ticket giveaway: a recent festival-goer who has several Bonnaroos and Shaky Knees under her belt, and will now be a first-time CaveFest camper! Abby shares her festival journey and why she's excited for her next adventure at The Caverns.

Finally, we preview some upcoming festival coverage in the coming weeks, and try to get to the bottom of why so many festivals this year are getting cancelled or disrupted because of weather.

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00) Music made from mushrooms?

(04:08) Modern Biology's Tarun Nayar

(24:22) Abby's Bonnaroo, Shaky Knees & CaveFest journey

(36:50) Bourbon & Beyond and CaveFest preview

(38:15) Why festivals keep getting cancelled

(40:04) Outro

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Modern Biology LIVE @ Indian Summer Festival

@modernbiology101 on Instagram

Get Tickets to CaveFest Here

Fripp & Eno - A Radical Representative Of Pinsnip - Paris (1975)

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

The rain and heat at Shaky Knees 2026 did not stop Russ from having a good time in Atlanta! We catch up live from the hotel on Saturday morning and then the full recap in this episode: the heat, the lineup, and the Saturday storm and evacuation.

Hear about notable performances from Turnstile, Fontaines D.C., Geese, LCD Soundsystem, and Gorillaz who closed the fest out Sunday night, plus what it was like riding out the evacuation in downtown Atlanta.

Then we're joined by Scott Miller, one of the artists performing next month in October (get tickets here!) for a great conversation about songwriting, his history with The Caverns, and cows.

Headed to Hulaween? Use code THEWHATPODCAST for $20 off a four-day pass. https://thewhat.co/hulaween

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

Thumbnail photo: Roger Ho for Shaky Knees 2026

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(00:00) Intro

(10:19) Shaky Knees Day 1: Checking In From Atlanta

(22:36) Full Shaky Knees 2026 Recap: Heat, Rain & the Lineup

(26:33) Scott Miller Talks Songwriting and Cows

(43:37) Outro

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

Our bicoastal correspondent Elizabeth Thorpe is back, and this time she's breaking down Bumbershoot, the Seattle festival where music meets DIY art, animation, a fashion district, roller derby, and yes, actual wrestling.

Beth walks us through all of Bumbershoot: the lineup (Death Cab for Cutie, Turnstile, De La Soul, Bikini Kill, Orville Peck), what makes a city festival different from a camping one, and the outsider-arts culture that Bumbershoot still preserves, the same DIY spirit that gave rise to grunge. Plus, a look ahead to CaveFest (camping tips and what's new), a Shaky Knees preview, Hulaween, and some Chattanooga artists who just landed an NPR Tiny Desk concert.

We're giving away two tickets to CaveFest at The Caverns (October 10–11, camping included)! Details: https://thewhat.co/giveaway

If you don't win, get tickets to CaveFest here!

Headed to Hulaween? Use code THEWHATPODCAST for $20 off a four-day pass. https://thewhat.co/hulaween

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00) Beth's Back

(01:09) Win 2 Tickets to CaveFest

(02:18) Inside Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival

(26:54) Shaky Knees Preview

(29:04) CaveFest: Camping, Cold Weather & What's New

(46:11) Save $20 on Hulaween Tickets

(47:03) Chattanooga Artists on NPR's Tiny Desk

(48:37) Wrap-Up

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Two Festivals We're Hitting This Fall: Shaky Knees & CaveFest

CaveFest 2026 Ticket Giveaway: How to Enter

@ethorpephoto on Instagram

Bonnaroo's Cancellation: A City Official on the Long-Term Vision for The Farm

How Has Bonnaroo Changed? A Festival Photographer's View

After Bonnaroo: How to Choose Your Next Festival

Get $20 off Hulaween tickets with code THEWHATPODCAST

Mon Rovîa: Tiny Desk Concert

Isaiah Rashad: Tiny Desk Concert

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

Bonnaroo may be taking 2027 off, but festival season isn't over. This week Barry and Russ break down the two festivals they're hitting this fall, Shaky Knees in Atlanta and CaveFest at The Caverns, and share their tips for doing each one right.

One's a city festival, one's a camping festival, and they're very different experiences. We get into the Shaky Knees lineup (The Strokes, Turnstile, Fontaines D.C., Twenty One Pilots and more), how to handle a city fest (hotels, getting around, the stages), and what makes CaveFest special — the cave stage, the amphitheater, camping in October, and the lineup up at Pelham. Plus festival news, the Good Friends Music Festival in Manchester, and how we're all still keeping Manchester in our plans.

We're also giving away two tickets to CaveFest at The Caverns (October 10-11, camping included). Details in the episode and at thewhat.co/giveaway.

If you don't win, get tickets to CaveFest here! Oct 10-11, 2026 at The Caverns

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00) Catching Up + Festival News

(04:04) Good Friends Fest & Manchester

(07:21) CaveFest Ticket Giveaway: How to Win

(09:00) Shaky Knees: The City Festival Guide

(16:43) CaveFest: The Camping Festival Guide

(33:00) What's Coming Up

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Bonnaroo's Cancellation: A City Official on the Long-Term Vision for The Farm

Good Friends Music Fest

CaveFest 2026 Ticket Giveaway: How to Enter

How The Caverns Became Tennessee's Premier Music Destination

Get CaveFest Tickets Here

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

No Bonnaroo in 2027? Here's how to figure out where to go instead. With Bonnaroo taking a fallow year, a lot of us are asking the same question: what festival do we go to now? So we brought in long-time friend of the show Liesl (@rockstarsweat), a festival superfan who's been to Bonnaroo, Pickathon, Glastonbury, Solid Sound and just about everywhere in between, to talk through how she actually chooses which festivals to attend.

Barry, Russ, and Liesl get into the real decision-making: lineup vs. community vs. cost, how the Glastonbury ticket lottery actually works, the difference between city and camping festivals, and why the fallow year might just open a door to something new. Plus, we open the show remembering Dolly Parton, and why she belonged at Bonnaroo.

Get tickets to CaveFest here! Oct 10-11, 2026 at The Caverns

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00) Welcome Back, Liesl

(02:41) Remembering Dolly Parton

(13:12) Bonnaroo's Fallow Year

(16:46) Beyond Bonnaroo: Pickathon, Glastonbury & More

(21:05) How Do You Choose a Festival?

(23:31) How Glastonbury Tickets Actually Work

(27:36) What Bonnaroo's Year Off Means for Fans

(31:07) City Festivals vs. Camping Festivals

(36:40) Festival Bucket Lists

(38:00) CaveFest

(42:17) Festivals We're Hitting Next

(41:23) Going to Festivals Solo

(45:51) Wrap-Up

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

@rockstarsweat on Instagram

Bonnaroo's Cancellation: A City Official on the Long-Term Vision for The Farm

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

Bonnaroo is taking 2027 off, and we wanted to dig into what's next. This week we're joined by David Bruce (I Am Bonnaroo) and Ryan French, a Manchester city councilman and tourism official with a front-row seat to what a fallow year actually means for the town Bonnaroo calls home. We get into the economic ripple through Manchester, why Bonnaroo is the "bell cow" for festivals far beyond itself, what a year off does to the local businesses and community that depend on it, and why our guests are hopeful about 2028 and beyond.

Plus, Barry reflects on a full-circle moment: covering Bonnaroo in 2002 as a skeptical newspaper reporter, and getting quoted in Rolling Stone about its future 24 years later.

Get tickets to CaveFest here! Oct 10-11, 2026 at The Caverns

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00:00) The News, One Week Later and a Rolling Stone Shoutout

(00:03:19) How We Got Here: From a 2002 "Hippie Fest" to Rolling Stone

(00:20:54) David Bruce & Ryan French Join

(00:27:41) Bonnaroo the "Bell Cow" and What It Means for Other Festivals

(00:35:14) What a Year Off Costs Manchester

(00:49:50) The Community Response and Keeping Bonnaroo Alive

(01:01:08) Looking Forward and Moving Ahead

(01:09:08) Reflecting on Past Cancellations

(01:13:07) Mini-Roos and 2027 Events

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Rolling Stone: Bonnaroo Taking ‘Much-Needed Year Off’ in 2027

Ashley Capps

Force Majeure with Jeff Becker

What Bonnaroo Fans Actually Want From a Podcast

Bonnaroo Cancels 2027: Our Live Reaction

Catching Up with I am Bonnaroo Creator David Bruce

Instagram: @iambonnaroo

How Bonnaroo Changed Manchester Forever: Live from Planet Roo

totemfnd.org

Bonnaroo's Infamous "Squarch": The Full Story with Tim "Tuba" Smith

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

We officially have confirmation on Bonnaroo's 2027 cancellation. We got together to share our initial reaction, and Barry literally pulled over on the side of the road to record this. As far as The What Podcast goes, we're still here every week and we'll have a deeper dive into this news next week.

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

Is Hulaween everything Bonnaroo used to be? We put the question to John, our EDM and jam-scene correspondent, and his answer says a lot about how both festivals have changed.

John makes the case for Hulaween, String Cheese Incident's own festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, where the daily lineups just dropped. We get into what makes it different from Bonnaroo: the jam-forward lineup with an electronic edge, the six-hour String Cheese / My Morning Jacket / STS9 runs, and the secret sets where anyone might sit in: Goose turning up to play with Cheese, that kind of unplanned magic. It leads to a real conversation about whether Bonnaroo's special moments have started to feel scheduled instead of spontaneous, and John doesn't hold back, including some honest thoughts on this year's very EDM-heavy Thursday.

Plus: John recaps his own Bonnaroo 2026 (great, but different, and quieter than years past), we looks ahead to ShoalsFest October 3-4 in Alabama, CaveFest at The Caverns October 10–11 (get tickets here!), and take a look at the surprisingly free EDM lineup at our own River Games in Chattanooga.

Need Hulaween tickets? Save $20 on GA 4-day passes with code THEWHATPODCAST!

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:24) Festival updates: CaveFest, 420 Fest, ShoalsFest, River Games

(00:09:22) EDM Correspondent John Joins the Show

(00:16:50) Hulaween Drops its Daily Linueps

(00:26:43) Comparing Hulaween to Bonnaroo

(00:35:44) John's Bonnaroo 2026: Great, But Different

(01:02:12) What's Next for The What Podcast

(01:09:01) Outro

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

How Has Bonnaroo Changed? A Festival Photographer's View

Kyle Hollingsworth Interview: String Cheese Incident, New Music & Craft Beer

Okay...We Were Wrong About Geese

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

How has Bonnaroo changed over the years? We asked someone with a rare vantage point — Elizabeth Thorpe, festival photographer and our West Coast correspondent, who's been going to Bonnaroo since 2004 and now shoots it from inside the photo pit.

Beth walks us through what the festival experience is really like from behind the lens: the "first three songs only" rule, why the pit is her happy place, and how Bonnaroo has evolved from a freewheeling field party into something bigger, busier, and more produced.

We also get into her recent run of festivals beyond Bonnaroo: Wilco's Solid Sound in Massachusetts (with a Mermaid Avenue set featuring Billy Bragg and a surprise Natalie Merchant appearance) and Pickathon out in the Oregon woods. Beth covered both for The What Podcast, and shares her photography throughout.

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:48) 20 Years at Bonnaroo, From Superfan to the Photo Pit

(00:28:08) Solid Sound: Wilco's Own Festival in Massachusetts

(00:42:52) Pickathon: Eight Stages in the Oregon Woods

(01:06:54) Still No Dates for Bonnaroo 2027?

(01:08:57) Outro

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

What Bonnaroo Fans Actually Want From a Podcast

Flying to Bonnaroo: What You Actually Need to Bring

Bonnaroo 2026: Thursday Headliner Confirmed + Our Corona Capital 2025 Breakdown

Instagram: @ethorpephoto

Instagram: @circles_of_sound

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.

What do Bonnaroo fans actually want from a podcast? We surveyed our listeners — and 89% agreed on the answer. In this episode of The What Podcast, Barry, Bryan, and Russ break down the results of our listener survey: where you're really listening (YouTube is running away with it), how you found the show, and what content you want more of.

We also catch up on a busy stretch of festival season: the rain that hammered Lollapalooza and Hinterland, the pull of Pickathon out in Oregon, and a remembrance of Glen Hansard. Plus: which festivals YOU want us to cover next (Shaky Knees, Bourbon & Beyond, and a few surprises made the list), and a look at the flood of vintage Bonnaroo photo galleries taking over Reddit.

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

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(00:00) Intro

(01:08) Keith Richards & Our Bonnaroo Radio Takeover

(08:29) Jesse Welles in Asheville

(14:49) Lollapalooza, Hinterland, and Pickathon

(23:41) Remembering Glen Hansard

(27:40) The Survey: We Asked Why You Listen

(28:30) Where Do Bonnaroo Fans Actually Listen?

(30:41) 89% of Our Listeners Want This

(35:45) How You Actually Found Us

(40:53) Which Festivals Should We Cover Next?

(43:31) Your Comments

(50:52) The Bonnaroo Photos Reddit Loves

(55:56) Wrap-Up & Camp Nutbutter Memories

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Bonnaroo's Lineup Secrets, From a Booking Agent Named Keith Richards

Bonnaroo Radio Takeover ft. Noah Kahan, String Cheese Incident & More

Traveling to Bonnaroo: A Patreon Chat

It's Bonnaroo Week! Hype, Stories & Last-Minute Tips

St. Paul and The Broken Bones' Paul Janeway Got Peed on at Bonnaroo

Instagram: @ethorpephoto

Instagram: @rockstarsweat

The What Podcast theme: "Aquarius" by *repeat repeat, used with permission.

We love to hear from you! Send us an email at [email protected] or call (423) 667-7877 and leave us a voicemail. We might just feature it on the show.