Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates interview series on radio and podcast.

The show covering all things health, wellness, culture, and more.

The show for all of us who aren't old, we're better.

Each week, we'll interview superstars, experts, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things,

all related to this wonderful experience of getting better, not just older.

Now, here's your host, the award-winning Paul Vogelzang.

Today's show is about science, imagination, and a little bit of madness, the kind that makes history unforgettable.

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series. I'm Paul Vogelzang.

We've got a fascinating guest today, David Barron, who's a science writer and author.

He's here to talk about his new book, The Martians, as well as his upcoming Smithsonian

Associates presentation, which brings us back to a time when Mars wasn't just a red dot in

the sky.

It was a world of wonder, fear, and maybe even intelligent life.

In the late 1800s, long before we ever sent a spacecraft into space, people believed that

canals on Mars were built by aliens, big names like Percival Loll, Nicola Tesla, and others weren't just thinking about

bars. They were obsessed. They built observatories, listened for signals, and convinced the

public that something or someone was out there. David Barron's new book, The Martians,

tells that story with humor, insight,

and real drama. It's about ambition, scientific curiosity, and how far people will go to prove a

theory, even if it turns out to be wrong. We'll talk with Smithsonian Associate David Barron

about what drove this obsession, why Mars captured so many

brilliant minds and how those early ideas still shape our view of space today. David Barron

...