A Boring Dystopia

I hadn't realized this episode had been sitting on my playlist since February.

But it's a long term view on war (defense) in space, and how it's been a favorite but useless toy of more than 1 potus.

And it's even more dystopian & pessimistic than the usual tone of this excellent podcast.

President Donald Trump wants to build an American Iron Dome. He even signed an executive order to make it happen. It’s a terrible idea, one we’ve tried before, and one that will make America less safe.

In this episode, Joseph Cirincione returns to the program to detail his personal history with complicated and costly missile defense systems.

• It all starts during a snowstorm in 1982 and with the High Frontier
• Zombie defense pitches
• It’s almost impossible to knock a bullet out of space with a bullet
• How Israel’s Iron Dome works
• Slow and hot vs fast and cold
• Lasers don’t work, thanks Teller
• Pitch: lasers in space. Reality: missile batteries in Alaska
• These systems only work half the time and only under perfect conditions
• SpaceX contracts abound!
• A Pentagon Powerpoint slide enters chat
• Jason’s Superman reverie, starring Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
• How do China and Russia react?
• “The enemy gets a vote.”
• The last arms control treaty
• Ronald Reagan: anti-nuclear advocate
• How SDI kept us from eliminating nuclear weapons
• Anatomy of an arms race
• AI is coming to nuclear command and control