The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America

The September 2025 selection for the Radio Bookclub is The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America, the latest book by best-selling science writer David Baron.

In the early 1900s, “Mars mania” gripped America, driven by astronomer Percival Lowell’s claim that vast canals on Mars revealed an advanced civilization. In his new book, David Baron recounts how Lowell’s vision of a utopian Mars captured the public imagination, inspiring lectures, books, and even serious debate from figures like Nikola Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell.

This episode was recorded at the Boulder Public Library on August 26, 2025, and was broadcast on KGNU on September 25, 2025, at 9 am.

What is KGNU Radio Book Club?

The Radio Bookclub is a collaboration between KGNU and the Boulder Bookstore. Every month, Arsen Kashkashian, head buyer at the Boulder Bookstore, selects a book to inspire listeners to read along together. The author will then join Maeve Conran and Arsen Kashkashian for a discussion that airs the fourth Thursday of every month at 9am.