Stay ConnectedThe Gilded Gentleman history podcast takes listeners on a cultural and social journey into the mansions, salons, dining rooms, libraries and theatres including the worlds above as well as below stairs of America’s Gilded Age, France’s Belle Epoque and late Victorian and Edwardian England.
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In 2013, John Cooper, an expert on Oscar Wilde, made a surprising discovery. While researching aspects of Wilde's famous 1882 American lecture tour, he came upon a lengthy article written and copyrighted by Wilde in 1885 on his philosophies of dress.
What made this unique was that this significant piece of writing by Oscar had seemingly been forgotten or lost to history.
This episode marks the publication of a new edition of John's book Oscar Wilde on Dress which includes the original essay, as well as extensive background and supplemental material to put not only the essay but also Oscar's life into perspective.
Wilde was passionate about the dress reform movement in the late 19th century, which sought to liberate women from the constraints of a male-dominated society. This fascinating essay, along with John's commentary and additional resources, sheds new light on how Oscar thought not only about dress, but about larger issues of beauty, freedom, and gender.
Find more about John Cooper's book "Oscar Wilde on Dress"
This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon
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Ulysses S. Grant, one of the most important and consequential presidents, is also one of the most misunderstood.
Ulysses Dietz, Grant's great-great grandson, joins The Gilded Gentleman to share his perspective on the lives of Grant and his wife Julia.
Ulysses discusses how the couple approached the beginnings of the Gilded Age from both a social and politicial standpoint, expounding upon the story from Grants’ transformation of the White House to establishing their lives in the ballrooms of the Vanderbitls in New York City.
This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.
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As the new feature filmDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale opens worldwide, we see for the final time the elegant, glamorous and always dramatic world of Lord and Lady Grantham and their family. We also have a chance to look back at the evolving fashion and hairstyles of Downton's characters as they have evolved from the series debut set in 1912 up to this final film set in 1930.
Joining The Gilded Gentleman table to trace this fashion history is listener favoriteDr. Elizabeth L. Block, who takes us from the high Edwardian style we saw with Violet, the Dowager Countess, to the body hugging slinky styles of Coco Chanel we see on Lady Mary in this latest film.
We also explore the flapper look, the influence of war years on fashion and how the great cultural forces such as the Ballets Russes all influence the styles of the Crawley sisters. And we even take a look downstairs and talk about how styles for domestic staff were shifting as well.
This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.
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Butlers, it seems, know everything. They are privy to the goings-on above and below stairs, and, of course, they keep it - mostly - to themselves. Agnes van Rhijn's very British butler Bannister has become a show favorite as he manages the downstairs staff and to a certain degree life above stairs as well.
Simon Jones, who plays the role of Bannister, is a veteran actor with an astonishingly impressive list of credits from stage, film and television. Jones has played roles in such productions as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Brideshead Revisited and Downton Abbey. His past co-stars include Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Lauren Bacall, among so many others.
In this special episode, Simon Jones sits with Carl to talk about those roles, and of course that of Bannister on The Gilded Age.
This interview first ran in December of 2023.
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One of the most anxiously followed storylines in HBO's "The Gilded Age" has been the love story between Oscar van Rhijn and John Adams.
Adams (Claybourne Elder), who was born into a prestigious New York family as the descendant of a Founding Father, became a fan favorite as the couple navigated their complex relationship out of society's glaring view.
Following the dramatic events of Season 3, actor Claybourne Elder joins The Gilded Gentleman, along with Greg Young of the Bowery Boys Podcast, to discuss his role and character, what filming the series was like and what the life of a gay man in the Gilded Age might have been like.
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Ever since the premiere episode of HBO's "The Gilded Age", viewers and historians have discussed just how close the fictitious character of Bertha Russell (played by Carrie Coon) may be to the real-life socialite steamroller Alva Vanderbilt.
There certainly seems to be similarities from Bertha and Alva's mutual unrelenting drive to claw a place in society - and then there was, after all, the fact that both women married their daughters off to British dukes.
The Gilded Gentleman takes a look at Alva's own story -- we have so far, been given little of Bertha's -- in an attempt to understand just why she made the choices and had the attitudes to social structure that she did.
Alva Vanderbilt was complex, complicated, conflicted and endlessly fascinating as she navigated her life from a loveless marriage to a new role as a divorced woman and suffragette. Join us for this look at Alva's early life to see how it all began.
An earlier version of this show ran in early 2022.
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We all have our favorite characters on HBO's "The Gilded Age," and one fan favorite is certainly the maid-turned-social climber, the former Enid Turner -- now Mrs. Joshua Winterton.
It's hard to forget her great entrance in Season 2 when she arrives on the arm of her much older (and very wealthy) husband to Bertha's jaw dropping disbelief.
Actor Kelley Curran, who plays the role of Mrs. Winterton, joins The Gilded Gentleman to talk about how she created the role of Enid, what her backstory likely could be, and what it was like filming some of Enid's most dramatic scenes.
This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon.
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Some called him the Gilded Age's biggest snob. Others thought he was a genius of social protocol and maneuvering through aristocratic circles.
Most famously, he acted as Mrs. Astor's right hand in sorting, selecting and assembling a group of New York's elite he was credited (erroneously) as naming "the 400". Nonetheless his influence on who got in and who stayed out was significant - but just exactly who was HE?
Join Carl for this in-depth look at just who Ward McAllister (played by Nathan Lane in HBO's "The Gilded Age") was and how he climbed the social ladder - and most of all, how he committed one of Gilded Age society's greatest sins - he wrote a book and told all.
Listen to other Gilded Gentleman shows tied to the HBO series including Black Newport, Playing Mamie Fish, Consuelo Vanderbilt and the Gilded Age’s Million Dollar Princesses and The Real Mrs. Astor.
And listen to the Bowery Boys Podcast's Tom Meyers on the Official Gilded Age Podcast
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Newport, Rhode Island has been an important center for the evolution of America's African heritage community. -- from its earliest days of the 18th century slave trade to the late 19th century years of the Gilded Age,
Viewers of HBO Max's The Gilded Age follow the character of Peggy Scott and her family to Newport and into the center of its wealthy, thriving Black community in the late 19th century.
Joining The Gilded Gentleman to trace this extraordinary history of Newport's African heritage community is Rhode Island's historian laureate Keith Stokes. Keith is a 9th generation Newporter and is descended from many of the major players that were trailblazers in civic government, education, medicine and science during Newport's Gilded Age.
The stories of the Astor and Vanderbilt families along with many others of the New York elite is only part of the story of Newport and its pivotal role in American history. This episode hopes to reveal another.
For more Gilded Age adventures, listen to the Gilded Gentleman podcast and the Bowery Boys podcast. You can also find Tom Meyers on the Official Gilded Age Podcast.
This episode was edited by Keiran Gannon.
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The divineMamie Fish, the eagle-eyed, sharp tongued social arbiter that regularly appears in the HBO series The Gilded Age,was indeed a real Gilded Age socialite,known for her incisive wit and no-nonsense comments on the glittering world around her.
In this encore episode, Carl sits down with actor Ashlie Atkinson who plays Mamie in the series and listener favorite historian Keith Taillon to talk about the real Mamie Fish and both what the real and fictional Mamie are really like.
Visit the website for more information and subscribe to the Gilded Gentleman podcast for more amazing stories of the Gilded Age.
This episode was produced and edited by Kieran Gannon.
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