Latika Takes: The Podcast

This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is in Poland at the Warsaw Security Forum. Latika’s guest is Hanno Pevkur, who served as Estonia’s Defence Minister until last month. He discusses the need for Europeans to make good on their NATO defence spending commitments, whether Article 5 is valid, Estonia’s ambitions to acquire deep-strike capability and the war in Ukraine. He also discusses Russia’s increasing attacks and sabotage against European nations.Latika Takes is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latikambourke.com/subscribe

This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is in New York at the United Nations General Assembly. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong is Latika’s guest this week. She discusses Australia’s approach to the Pacific, whether China and the United States can be trusted not to destroy humanity through runaway AI and why Australia did not join the recent UK-led sanctions against goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Latika Takes is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latikambourke.com/subscribe

his week Latika Takes: The Podcast is in Kyiv, Ukraine at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Conference. Her guest is one of Ukraine’s most decorated and well-known military Commanders — Major Yuri Fedorenko, who is better known as ‘Achilles’ — also the name of the UAV brigade he commands from Kharkiv. Achilles speaks to Latika Bourke in Kyiv with the assistance of his wife, Maria Mezentseva, who is a Member of Ukraine’s Parliament. Achilles and Maria discuss the state of the war, the lessons for Europe and what it’s like to be parents as your country is in an existential war.Latika Takes is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latikambourke.com/subscribe

This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is joined by Professor John Curtice.Professor Curtice discusses the change in the fault lines of UK politics driving the fragmentation of voters. Latika and John discuss whether Nigel Farage can become Prime Minister of the UK, whether the UK would vote for a black woman in Kemi Badenoch, after Kamala Harris’ failure in the United States and if the Keir Starmer political coup was to be expected.Latika Takes is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latikambourke.com/subscribe

This week Latika Takes: The Podcast interviews Lieutenant General Matthew W. McFarlane, who is the Commanding General of I Corps from the recent LANPAC conference in Hawaii. They discuss drone warfare and what the lessons of the wars in Ukraine and Iran have meant for the Indo-Pacific. They also discuss the health of the alliance at the military-to-military level and whether the reported shortage of munitions is affecting US readiness in the Indo-Pacific. Thanks for reading Latika Takes! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latikambourke.com/subscribe