Joshua Nall

Joshua Nall, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the Victorian obsession with the planet Mars at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival.

With the recent success of NASA's Curiosity lander, Mars is firmly back on the agenda. But where did our fascination with the red planet start?

Cambridge University historian Joshua Nall returns to Mars, as it was seen a century ago, when science and literature buzzed with claims about inhabitants on the neighbouring planet.

The Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival takes place at The Sage Gateshead Friday 2 - Sunday 4 November and is broadcast for three weeks on Radio 3 from Friday 2 November.

The New Generation Thinkers are winners of a talent scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into broadcasts.