Next on Showcase: Spacebridge
Radiotopia Presents: We're Doing the Wiz
Radiotopia
4.3 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2019
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Spacebridge tells a largely-forgotten saga of the late Cold War, when despair about the prospects of a nuclear conflict gripped the world. Both Soviets and Americans grasped at emerging communication technology via satellite and early Internet “spacebridges” that brought together citizen diplomats ranging from New Agers to tech-enthusiasts to astronauts. The urge to “just connect” helped tilt the world from top-down broadcasting to the more horizontal, Internet-levelled society where we all now live…for better and/or for worse.
Co-hosted by Julia Barton and Charles Maynes, Spacebridge is a production of Showcase from PRX’s Radiotopia with additional funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Our Russian content partner is the history site Arzamas.Academy.
Find out more at radiotopia.fm/showcase.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Radiotopia Presents from PRX's Radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | Hi, I'm Julie Shapiro, executive producer of Radiotopia, and I'm dropping in to introduce our next showcase series |
| 0:14.3 | Space Bridge coming March 1st. Radiotopia started showcase as a way to support |
| 0:19.7 | more independent producers and a range of creative work that pushes boundaries |
| 0:24.0 | uses the audio medium to its fullest and brings new voices to |
| 0:27.5 | podcasting. So far we've covered a range of topics like listening in the |
| 0:31.6 | digital age, a video game conspiracy, being |
| 0:34.6 | black in America, and the intersection of creativity and depression. |
| 0:39.3 | But let's talk about what's coming next on showcase, as I mentioned, Space Bridge. It's a story from nearly 40 years ago about |
| 0:46.0 | technology, citizen diplomats in the Cold War. And I thought it would be perfect for |
| 0:51.2 | showcase because it's ambitious and surprising and practically demands rich sound design with archival tape and period music. |
| 0:59.3 | So buckle in for a sprawling story about connection, shared optimism in fragile times, astronauts, |
| 1:05.8 | New Aagers, New Wave Rockers, and Muppets. |
| 1:10.6 | We on this side believe that you on that side are a bunch of mother-f-and you think the same thing about us. |
| 1:18.0 | The United Nations demanding the Security Council condemn Moscow. |
| 1:21.0 | You pick up the phone. |
| 1:25.0 | We do not have a picture yet. |
| 1:28.0 | From showcase, a production of PRX's radiatopia. |
| 1:31.0 | Okay. Texas Radiotopia. This is Houston. |
| 1:35.0 | We do have a TV picture. |
| 1:39.0 | We are receiving no voice. |
| 1:42.0 | This is Space Bridge. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Radiotopia, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Radiotopia and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.