David Baron: When Martians were real
From Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda by Alan Alda
February 17, 2026 · 36 min · Season 32
About this episode
David Baron discusses the historical fascination with the idea of intelligent Martians as reported by the New York Times in 1906.
…at least according to a bold-face December 1906 headline in the New York Times. This was in the middle of a decades-long fascination with the idea that Martians not only exist but were much smarter than us Earthlings. How Martians came… and went.
People in this episode
Host: Alan Alda
Guest: David Baron
Topics covered
- Martians
- New York Times
- science
- fascination
- intelligence
Keywords
- Martians
- New York Times
- December 1906
- intelligence
- Earthlings
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New York Times
Places: Earth, Mars
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