Latika Takes: The Podcast

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is at the ONS Conference in Stavanger, Norway.

The ONS Conference gathers Europe’s leading oil, gas and energy companies. This year, the mood was buoyant amid a slowing of public momentum for reaching net zero because of the energy shocks caused by the Iran and Ukraine wars.

The IEA boss Fatih Birol even said coal could have a boost from the turbulent geopolitical climate.

On behalf of ONS, I interviewed Christian Bruch, the CEO of Siemens Energy, about how he is pacing the energy transition in his company. He said under no circumstances should there be any shift towards accepting greater coal use in the mix.

Mr Bruch served on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Business Advisory Council, and we also discussed his plans to help equip Ukraine with mobile energy units ahead of the next winter. He also expressed his strong support for military service.

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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 London speaking with Ben Judah , who served as special advisor to former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

Mr Judah discusses the UK’s relationships with China, Europe, the United States and his failed attempts to kickstart a new CANZUK club, comprising Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

He discusses his fears about the debate around UK Defence Spending, the credibility gap opening up in NATO and why the UK needs to borrow Australia’s model of government to be more effective in achieving its goals.

This discussion references an article published by the Financial Times detailing leaked comments by the UK’s Ambassador to the US, Christian Turner, saying Israel was the UK’s only special relationship.

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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 Slough, the constituency of Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dheshi, who chairs the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.

Mr Dhesi discusses the contents of his Committee’s recent review into AUKUS which found the program is ‘faltering.’

He says the program is ‘plodding along’ and needs a new push from the AUKUS leaders.

He calls for an AUKUS visa, a dedicated envoy in each country to oversee the program as well as a boost in the UK’s defence spending.

The AUKUS review can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9068/aukus/

This discussion also references this article and event.

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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 Odesa, Ukraine attending the Black Sea Security Forum.

Latika’s guest is Nico Lange, who served as an advisor to former German Defence Minister AKK.

Now, as founder of the think tank IRIS, he goes back and forth from the frontline in Ukraine and monitors the changing nature of warfare.

In this episode, Latika and Nico discuss how Ukraine has made its gains in 2026, the ongoing failures of the West to adapt and enable Ukraine, whether the Europeans should negotiate with Vladimir Putin and NATO’s inability to protect its airspace from Russian drones.

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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 Prague at the GLOBSEC Forum, now in its 21st year.

She interviews Mark Esper, who served as US Secretary of Defence under Donald Trump, between 2019 and 2020.

Secretary Esper discusses why he felt ‘offended’ by the European response to the United States and Israel’s decision to launch a war against Iran in February and why it has set back NATO, already under fire from US President Donald Trump.

He discusses US expectations of allies in the event of a Chinese grab on Taiwan and how allies should approach dealings with the Trump Administration.

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 at the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, Estonia.

Her guest is Kaupo Rosin, the Director General of Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, which is widely regarded as one of the best when it comes to understanding what is going on inside Russia.

Latika and Kaupo discuss the unfavourable turn that the war in Ukraine has taken, the effect it has had on Vladimir Putin, what the West should now do, and China’s dominance over Russia.

They also discuss the societal unhappiness with Vladimir Putin’s shutdown of messaging services, the internet and VPNs and the possibility that the Russian President may have to start conscripting men to fight, bringing the war to the homes of those who have previously felt untouched.

They also discuss the effect of US President Donald Trump’s disparaging comments about NATO as well as the pause and withdrawal of military assets from Europe.

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