Reagan's Failed Attempt to Put Lasers in Space
Angry Planet5 Apr 2023

Reagan's Failed Attempt to Put Lasers in Space

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan stood before the American public and promised to put lasers in space. The Strategic Defense Initiative was meant to be the ultimate bulwark against communist intercontinental ballistic missile. It didn’t work.


Deriseively called Star Wars, the system never worked. To this day, methods for shooting an ICBM out of the sky are shoddy at best and fantasy at worst.

Joining us today is Joe Cirincione. In his own words on his substack at joecirincione.substack.com. He is a national security expert and author with 40 years of experience on these issues in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has held a number of prestigious roles in the nation’s capitol.


To see the clip of science fiction authors Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven talking about meeting with Reagan and “winnninng the Cold War with Star Wars” go here:


https://youtu.be/i-lSr2ud8Nc


Angry Planet has a Substack! Join to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.


https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe


You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(497)

Neutralizing Iran’s Nuclear Material During a War Is ‘Nearly Mission Impossible’

Neutralizing Iran’s Nuclear Material During a War Is ‘Nearly Mission Impossible’

America went to war in Iran, we’re told, because the idea of the country developing nuclear weapons was intolerable. Nukes are complicated and technical weapons that require scientists and experts to ...

27 Mar 54min

The ‘AI as Nuclear Weapons’ Obsession

The ‘AI as Nuclear Weapons’ Obsession

AI enthusiasts love to say that the technology is as revolutionary and important as nuclear weapons. Even the Trump administration has adopted the metaphor. The President and the Department of Energy ...

13 Mar 1h 2min

A Killer True Crime Fandom & Islamic State’s Digital Caliphate

A Killer True Crime Fandom & Islamic State’s Digital Caliphate

Things have gotten very surreal in the dark corners of the internet. AI-generated prophets are preaching jihad in Facebook groups, Minecraft servers host digital caliphates, and school shooting fandom...

4 Mar 1h 22min

When Americans Became ‘Splendid Liberators’

When Americans Became ‘Splendid Liberators’

America spent most of the 19th century at war with itself. It conquered its western expanse then collapsed into civil war. Once the North beat the South, partisan politics consumed the country for a g...

20 Feb 1h 5min

Puffins, Zyn, and ‘Polar War’

Puffins, Zyn, and ‘Polar War’

Greenland fever has faded for now but it will return. The world’s polar region, you see, is pretty damn important. As the planet heats and the ice melts, what was once an impassible warren of ice and ...

6 Feb 55min

Online Culture Is the Whole Culture

Online Culture Is the Whole Culture

There was a time, just before the pandemic, when folks would say “Twitter isn’t real life” as a means of dismissing the horrors of social media. This was a cope, a way to ignore the worst political an...

30 Jan 1h 24min

How We Thought the First Year Would Go

How We Thought the First Year Would Go

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.comOn January 28, 2025, I sat down with Aram Shabanian to talk about how we thought the first year of the Trump administration would go...

16 Jan 1h 2min

On Spectacles of Cruelty

On Spectacles of Cruelty

On the last Angry Planet of 2025, novelist and Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay returns to reflect on a year of spectacle and cruelty.Between the Pentagon’s boat strikes and the administration’s constan...

9 Jan 52min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

aftenpodden
giver-og-gjengen-vg
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
stopp-verden
popradet
det-store-bildet
rss-gukild-johaug
nokon-ma-ga
fotballpodden-2
rss-ness
dine-penger-pengeradet
hanna-de-heldige
e24-podden
aftenbla-bla
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk