“Don’t Take It for Granted” is a podcast about values – about the things that truly matter, yet are so often taken for granted. Together with Lika Toloraia in her podcast we will learn to appreciate what is important in our lives and to take care of it. Because the very moment we start treating the things we truly cherish for granted is the moment we begin to lose them. “Don’t Take It for Granted” is a podcast about real values – and the value of what is real.

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The new episode explores a question many in Europe have long taken for granted: security. We talk about freedom and peace – and the growing realization that both are no longer guaranteed. The theme of the show is Existential War. My guest is Ukrainian philosopher, writer, and political expert Dr. Volodymyr Yermolenko — President of PEN Ukraine, lecturer at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld. His work focuses on war, identity, and the values shaping modern Europe, and in recent years he has become one of the key voices explaining Ukraine to the world. We met in Berlin at a conference dedicated to a common security policy for Ukraine and Europe, where Volodymyr delivered a keynote that challenged a familiar narrative. While many still refer to this as the “war in Ukraine,” he argues that it is something deeper – an existential war. Not only for Ukraine, but for Europe as a whole. In this episode, we discuss what that means, why traditional forecasts and assumptions have failed, and why Europe can no longer afford to take its security for granted.