Our House Launches Morning Paranoia in Partnership with ElevenLabs
Our House is launching a new multilingual podcast, Morning Paranoia, in partnership with ElevenLabs. Hosted by Olga Karach, the weekly series combines human rights reporting, political analysis, and dark humor to explain the realities of authoritarianism—one Friday morning at a time.
Our House is proud to announce the launch of a brand-new podcast series, Morning Paranoia, produced in partnership with ElevenLabs. Hosted by Olga Karach — Belarusian human rights defender, political activist in exile, and head of the international human rights organization Our House — the podcast combines sharp political analysis, human rights reporting, and a healthy dose of dark humor. Thanks to ElevenLabs‘ voice technology, the show is being released simultaneously in multiple languages, making independent information accessible to audiences across borders.
The title reflects an old Belarusian joke:
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean nobody’s watching you.”
For millions of people living under authoritarian regimes, however, that stopped being a joke long ago. Every Friday, Morning Paranoia explores the stories shaping security, democracy, and human rights, separating genuine threats from rumors and explaining complex political developments in plain language. As Olga puts it:
“Paranoia thrives where information is missing. The best cure is knowledge, critical thinking, and a sense of humor.”
The very first episode opens exactly where many regional headlines seem to belong — with Alexander Lukashenko, introduced as “the region’s top political stand-up comedian, who also happens to be Europe’s last dictator.” From Lukashenko’s proposal to send “incompetent” officials directly into the army and to the Ukrainian border, to Lithuania and Finland moving toward deeper participation in NATO’s nuclear deterrence, the episode examines how absurd political theater often masks genuinely dangerous trends. It also tells the little-known story of Belarusian anti-war prisoner Anton Cheremnykh, before ending with perhaps the week’s only reassuring news: a Polish beaver stealing underwear to improve its lodge, proving that sometimes nature produces the most rational actors in the region.
The podcast concludes each week with the same reminder that has quickly become its signature: “We hope you live today — and your whole life — so vividly that anyone assigned to keep you under surveillance never has a boring day at work.” Because even while discussing surveillance, repression, and war, Morning Paranoia insists that fear should never have the last word.
For now, new episodes will be released every Friday, with plans to expand into a daily format as the audience grows. So then… let’s see what gave us reasons to be paranoid this week. Let’s begin. And when the episode is over: that’s all for today — see you next Friday.
Looking for the podcast in another language? Just scroll to the bottom of our website to find all available versions.
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