Latika Takes: The Podcast

Latika Bourke
  • 5.0 (2)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Australian-British writer and journalist Latika M Bourke discusses geopolitics, national security and defence with invited guests. www.latikambourke.com

  1. 4H AGO

    🇺🇦 From Odesa, Latika Takes interviews Oleksii Goncharenko

    This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is in the Black Sea city of Odesa, Ukraine. The city is covered in ice and snow, a sight not seen by locals for around a decade, reflecting the brutally cold war winter that Ukrainians have endured. In Kyiv, temperatures have dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius, at the same time, Russia’s Vladimir Putin has deliberately attacked energy infrastructure. Ahead of the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion, Latika M Bourke sits down with the high-profile opposition MP Oleksii Goncharenko, who is a prominent critic of Ukraine’s wartime President Volodmyr Zelenskyy. Mr Goncharenko discusses Ukraine’s exhaustion and the viability of continuing the war for another winter, the corruption scandals around Zelenskyy, and the security guarantees Europe and the US can provide Ukraine. This interview refers to a range of articles and ideas that Latika Takes has previously covered and discussed, which I’ve linked below for your ease: 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

    37 min

  2. 5D AGO

    🇩🇪 From Munich, Latika Takes interviews Richard Marles

    This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is at the Munich Security Conference in Bavaria, Germany. Latika interviews Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles about his debut appearance at Europe’s largest security and defence conference in Munich, Germany. Mr Marles discusses the future of the war in Ukraine, why rules still matter in the global order and China’s military build-up. He gives his reaction to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s address to the MSC and his views on the health of the transatlantic alliance. And he shares the details of the gift given to him by his new running mate, Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjirō Koizumi. The panels discussed in this podcast can be found here. 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

    41 min

  3. FEB 8

    🇺🇸 From Washington DC, Latika Takes interviews Jim Townsend

    This week Latika Takes: The Podcast is in Washington DC and interviews the former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Jim Townsend. Mr Townsend, now at the Centre of New American Security, completed more than two decades of work on European and NATO policy in the Pentagon, at NATO and at the Atlantic Council. His work spanned the Cold War, post-Cold War political reconstruction in Europe and Europe's new challenges including Russia and terrorism. Latika and Jim discuss US President Donald Trump’s approach towards NATO and the Alliance’s worst day after the threat to invade Greenland. He also discusses the activation of Article 5 and the effect of Trump’s traducing of Allied war dead in Afghanistan on future NATO and Allied military missions. Mr Townsend warns that Russia is poised to come back from its war in Ukraine stronger than ever and that Europe could return to its pre-World War state if NATO collapses because of a loss in US leadership. And he discusses whether NATO boss Mark Rutte is too fawning over Mr Trump. Jim Townsend also podcasts on the transatlantic alliance at Brussels Sprouts. 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

    1h 4m

  4. JAN 4

    Latika Takes interviews Arsen Ostrovsky

    This week Latika Takes: The Podcast interviews ARSEN OSTROVSKY who was shot during the Bondi terror attack at Bondi Beach on December 14. An international human rights lawyer, Ostrovsky relocated back to Australia just 2.5 weeks before the attack, to take up a position as Head of Sydney Office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, a leading Jewish communal advocacy organisation. In this interview, Arsen Ostrovsky discusses being shot in the Hannukah attack and the ten minutes between being hit and finding out this his wife and two young girls were safe. He took this photo to see his injuries and sent it to his wife not knowing if this would be his last message to her. Mr Ostrovsky is now among the many campaigners pushing for a federal Royal Commission into antisemitism, something the Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is resisting. He also discusses the fake images of him that went viral after the attack, which used AI to generate images of him depicting him having fake blood applied by make-up artists. 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

    41 min

  5. 12/18/2025

    🇦🇺 From Melbourne, Latika Takes interviews Josh Frydenberg

    This week Latika Takes: The Podcast interviews former Liberal Treasurer and prominent Jewish figure Josh Frydenberg. Mr Frydenberg served as Treasurer between 2018 and 2022 but lost his Melbourne seat. He is widely tipped to return to politics and seek the leadership. Since leaving Parliament and October 7, he has been an avowed campaigner on antisemitism and produced a documentary on the surge in Australia. You can watch that here. He discusses why he blames Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the terror attack and the moments that led to his explosive speech at Bondi. You can watch that in full here. The Prime Minister said shortly after this interview was recorded when asked about the criticisms: ‘Of course, more could have always been done. Governments aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect.’ Latika asks Frydenberg if the Bondi attacks have influenced his thinking about returning to politics, why Labor has not been as strong as it could have been on antisemitism and what he told his young children about the attacks. 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

    42 min

  6. 12/07/2025

    Latika Takes Interviews Dmytro Kuleba

    This week Ukraine’s former foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba joins Latika Takes: The Podcast. In this wide-ranging and candid interview, Mr Kuleba reveals Kyiv’s strategic mistakes, including how his attempts to cultivate Jared Kushner as a contact for Ukraine were blocked by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s now-resigned but then-all-powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. He discusses how Russia gained the advantage over Ukraine, which fell into the trap of believing its own spin after early battlefield wins. He also discusses whether Ukraine needs or wants the Coalition of the Willing and his belief that Vladimir Putin will attack a NATO ally within years, if the US and Europe stay on their current course. Finally, Mr Kuleba reveals his thoughts on a Presidential run. 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

    43 min

  7. 11/30/2025

    Latika Takes interviews Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

    This week Latika Takes: The Podcast interviews Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the woman widely regarded as having won Belarus's elections in 2022, who now lives in exile in Lithuania. Tsikhanouskaya, a mother of two, discusses being an opposition activist, inspiring other exiled movements, a woman political leader in a patriarchal society. She discusses on the work with the Trump Administration in freeing political prisoners and the contrast between Belarusians and Russians in their perceptions of Western sanctions imposed as a result of the war in Ukraine. She reflects on the fatigue factor involving the war in Ukraine and how that is affecting populist politics across Europe. Finally, she addresses the statement released by her husband, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, after he accused her political office of withholding from him their joint Magnitsky Human Rights Award that they won at this month’s awards ceremony in London. 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

    23 min

  8. 11/23/2025

    Latika Takes interviews Ambassador John Bolton

    This week, US Ambassador John Bolton joins Latika Takes: The Podcast to discuss US national security and global security under the second Trump Administration. Ambassador Bolton served as one of Donald Trump’s national security advisers in the US President’s first term. His memoir of that chaotic time, The Room Where It Happened, details Trump’s incoherent approach to foreign policy and China. Ambassador Bolton discusses how the Quad could be expanded to include South Korea, what US isolationism beyond Trump means for Taiwan and the need to clean up the infiltration of Russian narratives from the Republican party and MAGA movement. Ambassador Bolton, a major critic of Trump’s, is being pursued in the courts by the Trump Administration, and also discusses why he’s choosing to keep talking, instead of falling silent like so many of Trump’s critics on the right of US politics. Thanks for listening to Latika Takes: The Podcast. 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

    30 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Australian-British writer and journalist Latika M Bourke discusses geopolitics, national security and defence with invited guests. www.latikambourke.com

Information

  • Creator
    Latika Bourke
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Latika M Bourke
  • Show Website
    Latika Takes: The Podcast

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