In a powerful conversation from the 2025 Festival, Indonesian journalist and Editor-in-Chief of IDN Times Uni Lubis and Indonesian historian and Founder of Historia.id Bonnie Triyana speak with host and American Professor of Journalism Janet Steele about the controversy over the government’s plan to amend history books. They offer a brave, nuanced and ultimately important analysis of another flashpoint in the world’s third-largest democracy and the fear of historical amnesia.

Watch and listen to this lively panel now at ubudwritersfestival.com/media and on podcast platforms such as Spotify and Simplecast.

In this next #UWRF25 highlight conversation, American writer, journalist and private diplomat Michael Vatikiotis invites New York Times Diplomatxic Correspondent Edward Wong and Chinese Senior Fellow Zhou Bo to examine the complexities of China–United States relations and how contemporary politics influence these powers. Listen in as they untangle their geopolitical landscape and the interactions between competing world powers.

Listen in this clip as Wong describes Trump’s approach on the world stage as driven more by short-term tactics than by a coherent long-term strategy, with decision-making often shifting from day to day, a dynamic that has played out in the widening US–Israel conflict with Iran, where rapidly shifting goals and mixed messaging have marked America’s involvement in the region.

Watch and listen to this lively panel now at ubudwritersfestival.com/media and on podcast platforms such as Spotify and Simplecast.

Hear from an all-star line-up of women at the top of their fields as they explore creativity as a gift passed from mother to daughter—from the creation of life to the creation of art, community, and more.

Appearing in one of our live recorded highlight conversations of #UWRF25, Indonesian multidisciplinary artist Agnes Christina, Australian author and producer Courtney Collins, British, Delhi-based artist Olivia Fraser, and Irish Book Award–winning writer Sinéad Gleeson talk with Jenny Valentish about what drives them and how their creativity nurtures each of them in a world where women are often responsible for more roles than they are recognised for.

You can enjoy this latest highlight session, recorded live at our 2025 Festival, at ubudwritersfestival.com/media and on podcast platforms including Spotify and Simplecast.