[6] In mid-March 2020, with ever-increasing public health concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, CWA announced the cancellation of the 72nd conference.

[7][8][9] The conference started out as a forum on international affairs, but under Higman, it expanded into a discussion of eclectic topics.

The core of the conference consists of panel discussions, usually with 3–6 panelists, on topics such as music, art, literature, environmental activism, business, science, journalism, diplomacy, technology, spirituality, the film industry, pop culture, visual arts, politics, medicine, and human rights.

All sessions are free and open to the public and are held in rooms varying in capacity according to anticipated popularity, from 50 seats to 2000.

[10] Numerous distinguished people have served as panelists over the years, including Patch Adams, Margot Adler, Betty Dodson, Buckminster Fuller, Temple Grandin, Werner Herzog, Adam Hochschild, Arianna Huffington, Andy Ihnatko, Molly Ivins, Henry Kissinger, Charles Krauthammer, Paul Krugman, George McGovern, William Nack, Ralph Nader, Howard Nemerov, Yitzhak Rabin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Seth Shostak, Julia Sweeney, Studs Terkel, and Ted Turner.

A long-running event is Cinema Interruptus, hosted for many years by film critic Roger Ebert.

At Boulder for more than 30 years, I made my way through a film for two hours every afternoon for a week, and the sessions had to be moved to an auditorium to accommodate attendance that approached a thousand.

[13] While Ebert was recovering from cancer surgeries in 2007 and 2008, RogerEbert.com founding editor and CWA participant Jim Emerson stepped in to moderate during his absence.

How the plot, which seems to unfold in a documentary fashion, has a three-act structure, a character arc, and deliberate turning points.

[15] Bahrani told Ebert he'd do anything to meet Werner Herzog, so they "conspired to lure Werner to Boulder in 2010, where he joined Ramin in a shot-by-shot analysis of Aguirre, the Wrath of God...Although I couldn't speak, it was an inspiring experience for me, bringing these two men together in the act of watching a great film...

I was deeply satisfied every afternoon by the Interruptus sessions, and at some point that week I realized it would be my last trip to Boulder.

Interruptus films[19] One of the signature events is a free jazz concert featuring performers from around the world.

Past performers have included vocalist Cyrille Aimée, bassist Bijoux Barbosa, pianist Henry Butler, trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Brad Goode and saxophonist Ernie Watts.

I heard the flautist Nestor Torres playing Bach with all his heart and then segueing into Latin jazz with songs he composed especially for the conference.

During one song, the charismatic jazz vocalist Lillian Boutté, from Germany out of New Orleans, was so happy that people started dancing in the aisles.

After all their paid gigs in studio recording sessions, how often do fourteen gifted improvisational jazz and Latin artists get together to jam together just for fun?