History As It Happens

Star Wars


Listen Later

Forty years ago, 'Return of the Jedi' opened in movie theaters, but 1983 also was a big year for another kind of 'Star Wars.' Two months before the movie premiered, President Ronald Reagan delivered a nationally televised address announcing an initiative to build a space-based missile shield that would use lasers to shoot down incoming ICBMs. Derisively dubbed "Star Wars" by skeptics -- skeptics who were right to doubt its feasibility -- Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative never amounted to anything useful. It was, however, part of Reagan's vision for a world free of nuclear weapons, a vision he successfully pursued in negotiations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In this episode, Joseph Cirincione, an expert on nuclear non-proliferation and national defense, discusses how the world has moved a long way in the wrong direction from the "golden age" of nuclear arms reduction treaties.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

History As It HappensBy Martin Di Caro

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

62 ratings


More shows like History As It Happens

View all
Political Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

Political Gabfest

8,497 Listeners

We the People by National Constitution Center

We the People

1,103 Listeners

Lectures in History by C-SPAN

Lectures in History

756 Listeners

The Lawfare Podcast by The Lawfare Institute

The Lawfare Podcast

6,311 Listeners

The President’s Inbox by Council on Foreign Relations

The President’s Inbox

721 Listeners

The Good Fight by Yascha Mounk

The Good Fight

903 Listeners

The Atlantic Interview by The Atlantic

The Atlantic Interview

2,255 Listeners

Uncommon Knowledge by Hoover Institution

Uncommon Knowledge

2,015 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

7,216 Listeners

What Next by Slate Podcasts

What Next

2,415 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,173 Listeners

Booknotes+ by C-SPAN

Booknotes+

211 Listeners

For the Ages: A History Podcast by The New York Historical

For the Ages: A History Podcast

383 Listeners

Shield of the Republic by The Bulwark

Shield of the Republic

492 Listeners

The Foreign Affairs Interview by Foreign Affairs Magazine

The Foreign Affairs Interview

463 Listeners