Well, we never really had a plan. Two people just leaned on each other and the rest fell into place.

In 2022, Ukrainian activist Val Voshchevska-Khan and Ukrainian journalist Maksym Eristavi stumbled into each other's DMs during sleepless February nights, filled with anxiety over the imminent russian full-scale invasion of their country

Two total strangers connected over the shock that, with all the intense global coverage of Ukraine, Ukrainian voices were nowhere to be heard; safe < spaces for them to speak out just didn't exist.

They felt... silenced.

THEN ON THE 24TH OF FEBRUARY, 2022, EVERYTHING GOT REAL.

Valeriia texted Maksym her thoughts, as if writing a diary, and then said, "What do you think about Twitter Spaces for Ukrainian voices?" Maksym replied, "there are so many stories like this that have to be recorded."

Valeriia and Maksym made a promise to each other: through the darkest days, they would never skip a broadcast, no matter how broken they felt on that day; the legacy that they wanted to leave is the memory of Ukrainians who were never heard, who were never honoured for their bravery.

An awkward start turned into a raw, honest, unfiltered therapy session with a shared friend about what it means to be a Ukrainian, about diversity, colonialism, what the world doesn't understand about Ukraine, and their determined resilience through genocide.

Suddenly, crowds of Ukrainians and Ukrainian allies showed up to embrace the project. We built a fiercely loyal, global audience. After 70+ episodes, the show became 100% crowdfunded and cracked the top podcast charts in 20+ countries—from Estonia and Latvia to Qazaqstan and Singapore.