Thanks for the pointers @rascheln & @cameronmcefee; I had the same issues.
The reason it doesn’t build is that Node 17 made some changes to SSL that the version of Webpack the React starter comes with doesn’t play nice with. Update Webpack to the latest version and make the quoted change to the `webpack.config.js and it’s all fixed.
I wouldn’t recommend downgrading Node - the patched SSL for a reason! 