In this Tea Leaves episode, Kurt and Rich are joined by Ben Bland, Director of the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute. Ben, currently based in Sydney, shares important insights from his new book, “Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia,” which is the first English-language biography of Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The three roll back the curtain on Indonesia – Southeast Asia’s largest economy – and discuss what’s currently at stake amid the COVID pandemic.
Podcasts
Recent Posts
Han Lin in Channel News Asia on China’s currency strategy: ‘Beijing sees currency power as a national-security issue’
February 11, 2026
Media Mentions
“As more countries adopt the yuan for investment and capital-raising, Beijing gains the ability to direct capital toward its strategic ...
Kurt Tong on Channel News Asia discussing Takaichi’s landslide win in Sunday’s lower house election
February 9, 2026
Media Mentions
Japanese voters have handed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a powerful mandate, delivering her ruling coalition a crushing victory in Sunday’s ...
Rintaro Nishimura in CNN on Japan’s snap election: ‘From their perspective, the LDP had become too moderate under the last two prime ministers’
February 6, 2026
Media Mentions
“From their perspective, the LDP had become too moderate under the last two prime ministers,” said Rintaro Nishimura, a Tokyo-based ...
Geopolitics and Business in 2026 – Five Trends from TAG’s GeoCommercial Strategy Survey