#483
John Strausbaugh, author of The Wrong Stuff: How the Soviet Union Crashed and Burned, joins The Realignment. Marshall and John discuss the rise and fall of the USSR's space program, why the U.S. had the "Right Stuff" while the Soviet's had the "Wrong Stuff" needed for long-term success, how NASA lost its way after the Apollo Moon landings, and the implications for the second space race between the U.S., China, and the private companies like SpaceX caught in the middle.
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0:00 - Introduction
1:19 - Story of Soviet space program
7:17 - Post WW2 Soviet technology
11:06 - Soviet culture
15:19 - Political will
20:00 - ‘The 3 Stooges’
29:46 - USSR vs. Russia
34:04 - Who’s at fault for the Soviet failure?
38:34 - Decline of NASA
42:20 - Privatization of space