October 10, 2025 | Uncategorized,

What’s A Spacebridge? How Youth Activism Can Change Our Worldview

While many of you are aware of what SpaceBridge is, for others, the name probably evokes pictures of galaxies, flying saucers, or astronauts in some far-off utopian future. But the reality of Irina Kruzhilina’s SpaceBridge is something beyond science fiction. It’s a piece of real history worth knowing before you see the show.

The term comes from a series of televised exchanges between American and Soviet citizens in the 1980s, where satellite technology was used to create a live conversation between citizens on opposite sides of the Cold War. These broadcasts were called “spacebridges.” They allowed regular people to ask questions, share stories, and challenge assumptions in real time. Despite political tensions, the spacebridges revealed a deep human desire to understand and be understood.

Kruzhilina’s SpaceBridge is a re-imagination of this very concept, inspired further by another moment in history: In 1983, 10 year-old Samantha Smith led a peace mission from the US to the USS to bridge the gap between Russian and American children.

From her small town of Manchester, Maine, a frightened Samantha wrote a letter to Yuri Andropov—the premier of the Soviet Union—asking if he intended to start a war. Premier Andropov wrote the little girl back, inviting her to visit and see that Russian people were peaceful with no desire for violence. Samantha befriended other Russian children during her time there, and quickly became a nationally-recognized American activist against the Cold War.

Tragically, Samantha died in a plane crash at just thirteen, just two years into her career as a peace activist. Her influence on SpaceBridge is palpable. Children can make an incredible difference, and their voices are invaluable to shifting our perspectives back to the heart of humanity; the thing we’re all fighting for.

From now on, when you hear the word SpaceBridge, think of radical empathy, understanding, and the youngest of us all inspiring generations.

Catch SpaceBridge at ArtsEmerson this season NOV 21—23. Tickets available HERE.