SYSK Selects: Did Reagan's Star Wars program win the Cold War?

# Summary

In this episode, Josh and Chuck dive into Ronald Reagan's ambitious Strategic Defense Initiative, the space-based missile defense system that the media dubbed "Star Wars." They explore how Reagan challenged the scientific community to make nuclear weapons obsolete by creating a shield that could shoot down incoming Soviet missiles in space, the various wild technologies tested to make it work—from X-ray lasers to kinetic warheads to bright pebbles—and why the program was ridiculed by Congress, the public, and America's allies. The guys discuss how, despite never achieving Reagan's original vision, the initiative may have contributed to the Soviet Union's collapse by forcing them into an unwinnable arms race, and how the research ultimately led to the missile defense systems we still use today.