The Death Ray

Mike Daisey  tells the story of the Tesla’s real Dr. Strangelove moment: inventing the ultimate super-weapon, a death ray. But did it work? The government thought it might, and the Cold War got hotter.
Daisey also describes the mystery behind all of Tesla’s scientific papers going missing, and how it all may have led to the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative of the 1980s – Reagan’s “Star Wars” program.
(Originally aired: January 25, 2008)