The Gilded Gentleman – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Gilded Gentleman

Carl Raymond

History

Society & Culture

Arts

Frequency: 1 episode/11d. Total Eps: 155

The 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. thegildedgentleman.com

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Apple Podcasts

🇺🇸 USA - history
20/08/2026
#89
🇺🇸 USA - history
19/08/2026
#92
🇺🇸 USA - history
06/08/2026
#92
🇺🇸 USA - history
05/08/2026
#95
🇺🇸 USA - history
25/06/2026
#88
🇺🇸 USA - history
24/06/2026
#96
🇺🇸 USA - history
27/05/2026
#82
🇺🇸 USA - history
16/05/2026
#100
🇺🇸 USA - history
14/05/2026
#89
🇺🇸 USA - history
13/05/2026
#83

Spotify

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Score global : 53%

Publication history

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Latest published episodes

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The Ghost Stories of Henry James and Edith Wharton

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 • Duration 53:00

Along with their acclaimed novels and short works of fiction, Henry James and Edith Wharton both extensively explored the genre of the ghost story, enormously popular throughout much of the 19th century. In nearly all of their ghostly tales, James and Wharton explore the inner depths of the human psyche and the all-too-human emotions of fear, abandonment, passion and loss.

Carl is joined by returning guest Dr. Emily Orlando, author and professor of English at Fairfield University, for an in-depth look at examples of the ghost story from both Henry James and Edith Wharton. Carl and Emily delve into James' techniques of horror and suspense in his masterpiece "The Turn of the Screw" and how Wharton explored the ambiguities and challenges of marriage and abandonment in several of her stories including "The Lady's Maid's Bell", "Afterward", "Pomegranate Seed" and perhaps her own masterpiece -- "All Souls".

Orlando was also featured in the Gilded Gentleman episode -- Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence

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Children of the Gilded Age: Seen and Not Heard (Until Now)

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 • Duration 50:15

Stories of the Gilded Age so often focus on the world of adults and more often on the highest layer of elite society. Of course, there was much, much more to the story of America's social and economic growth at the end of the 19tth century that involved those of the middle and lower classes - and also included children.

Listener favorite Esther Crain, author and creator of Ephemeral New York, joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look at the world of children during the Gilded Age. As she shared in the episode "Invisible Magicians: Domestic Servants in Gilded Age New York" with writings by actual servants, Esther has uncovered documents written in children's own voices that capture their world and reality.

From a 12 year old boy in Gilded Age Harlem to a teenage girl on what would become Manhattan's Upper East Side, we can finally meet children who are both seen and heard.

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Gilded Age Newspapers: All That Was (Mostly) Fit to Print

Episode 84

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 • Duration 59:11

Carl is joined by veteran journalist, writer and tour guide Michael Morgenthal for a journey through the pages of 19th century newspapers.

Michael traces the history of several of our most well known newspapers today including the New York Post and the New York Times as well as how Gilded Age journalists and readers had - in their way - the (nearly) 24 hour news cycle that we are so accustomed to today.

By the end of the Gilded Age there were over 20 daily newspapers published in New York City alone. Each has a slightly different focus, much as our papers do today, and they scooped their news in a variety of ways. This episode takes a look at New York's newspaper history and just what it was like in the Gilded Age. Michael shares the story behind several influential figures including Alexander Hamilton and famed poet and publisher William Cullen Bryant, leading up to the great wars for sensational journalism fought by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.

In addition, you'll discover when newspapers adopted the popular tabloid size, and when actual advertising began to be used to create income.

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The Gilded Age's Most Famous Dress: Alice Vanderbilt's "Electric Light"

Episode 83

Tuesday, May 28, 2024 • Duration 47:08

Carl visits the Museum of the City of New York where he's joined by Collections Manager for Costumes and Textiles, Elizabeth Randolph, to discuss the famous dress Alice Vanderbilt wore to her sister-in-law Alva'a ball, while inspecting the original dress itself.

On the evening of March 26, 1883, Alva Vanderbilt threw her famous costume ball to officially open her new "Petit Chateau" on Fifth Avenue and to secure her place in Gilded Age society. Her sister-in-law, Alice, not to be outdone, arrived at the ball and created one of the most talked about fashion statements from the Gilded Age to today.

Alice had the famed British-born Parisian couturier Charles Frederick Worth design a gown that represented "electric light" - a new idea in 1883. Encrusted with gold and silver threads, Alice's gown caught the attention of not only the guests at the ball, but the press whose reports of her dress ranged from the credible to the outrageous. Jose Mora, the noted society photographer of the era, captured Alice in a famous photograph in which Alice, wearing the dress, holds a torch high above her head.

Myths about the dress have circulated for years - that there was a concealed battery back in the bodice, that the dress itself somehow "lit up", and on and on. Miraculously, the original dress survives today and is in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York. With deep gratitude and thanks to the Museum, I was allowed to see the actual dress and record this interview with Elizabeth Randolph. With the dress laid out before us, we explored the story of what's true, what's not, and just what effect (both visual and social) Alice would have made wearing the dress on the night of Alva's ball.

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Jack the Ripper: Inside the World's Most Famous Unsolved Murders

Episode 82

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 • Duration 01:17:21

Renowned historian and author Richard Jones delves deeply into one of the world's most fascinating unsolved series of murders. True crime fans may think they know the major elements of the grisly set of Jack the Ripper murders and the resulting investigation, but this show uncovers some angles and aspects that shine a wider light into these horrors of late Victorian London.

Carl and guest Richard Jones delve into all aspects of the crimes themselves - from what happened, to what clues were and weren't at each murder site, to how the police attempted to quickly find the killer, and to how the press manipulated and were responsible for giving us the impressions of the case we have today.

Richard shares his insights and analysis on possible suspects, why these murders were unlike any others up to this point, and most importantly, offers deeply human insight into just who the victims were themselves - which may surprise you. Don't miss this insightful look into a set of crimes that still grips the public nearly 150 years after they occurred.

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Royal Mothers and Daughters: A conversation with Tracy Borman

Episode 81

Tuesday, April 30, 2024 • Duration 57:29

Royal historian and author Tracy Borman returns to The Gilded Gentleman following her appearance on Crown & Scepter: The Coronation Show last year.

Tracy is a noted historian and a frequent guest and commentator on the BBC as well as many documentaries and programs internationally. Tracy's most recent book "Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter That Changed History" serves as the basis for this episode, along with Tracy's insights on the mother daughter relationships in the lives of two modern monarchs - Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.

Mother daughter relationships can be loving, supportive and at times challenging. In this episode, Tracy Borman discusses several royal mother/daughter relationships that may have changed history. Elizabeth I was barely three years old when her father Henry VIII ordered her mother's execution for failing to provide a royal male heir. Tracy's revelatory new research and insight explains just how Elizabeth honored, and even emulated her mother throughout her own long reign and how she continued to dispel myths that had been created by a malicious court.

Like Elizabeth I, neither Queen Victoria nor Queen Elizabeth II ever thought that they would be queens themselves and Tracy offers additional in-depth insight as to how these women - along with their own mothers influenced the throne.

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Sweeney Todd's Original Johanna: A Tribute to Broadway's Sarah Rice

Episode 80

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 • Duration 42:59

Just over a year ago, as Broadway opened a revival of the classic Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd, The Gilded Gentleman was honored to sit down with one of the stars of the original 1979 Broadway production.

Sarah Rice, who went on to a distinguished career in opera as well as leading roles in musical theatre, originated the role of Johanna playing opposite such Broadway legends as Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou.

Sarah covered how she got started in theatre, came to New York with two cats and a piano to join the cast of the original The Fantasticks, and then was cast in her career changing role as Broadway's first Johanna. Perhaps most fascinating in Sarah's chat with Carl were her reminiscences and recollections of being directed and prepared for the role by the great masters Hal Prince and Stephen Sondhiem themselves. Sarah ultimately became one of today's most important interpreters of Stephen Sondheim's music.

Sarah passed away suddenly earlier this winter and her loss is a profound one for those who knew her personally and those who were touched by her beautiful voice and many appearances on stage.

As a tribute to her memory and her artistry, The Gilded Gentleman is revisiting the interview portion of last Spring's show as a tribute to her memory.

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The Edwardian Country House: Elegance and Eccentricity

Episode 79

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 • Duration 46:14

Join Carl and British country house historian Curt DiCamillo for a look into the world of the Edwardian country house. Audiences became fascinated in these houses through the blockbuster Julian Fellowes series "Downton Abbey" and his earlier film "Gosford Park", with their colliding worlds of upstairs and downstairs and interlocking social dramas.

Curt discusses this fascinating period in British history and how the country house in Edwardian times brought society closer to a modern age. Curt explains how country houses as estates for the British aristocracy evolved over centuries and how they reached their height in the reign of King Edward VII, who took the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

The country house greatly expanded during this time and some interiors reflected influences from Britain's growing empire. Grand dinners, shooting parties, and elegant tea parties were all backdrops to great social intrigue and sometimes scandal.

In this show, Curt shares several examples of great Edwardian country houses (including one current royal estate), what they looked like, how they operated, and how they can be visited today. The Edwardian period was a glittering one, much like America's Gilded Age, but a short one, which vanished from view as Britain and Western Europe entered a world-changing war.

Related show with Curt DiCamillo: The British Crown Jewels: History and Mystery

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Gilded Age Undergarments: What Did Mrs. Astor Wear (Under There)?

Episode 78

Tuesday, April 2, 2024 • Duration 54:31

Fashion historian and author, Dr. Elizabeth L. Block returns to The Gilded Gentleman for a truly "undercover" investigation. This time, Liz joins Carl to discuss the world of corsets, bustles, straps and stockings, all of which comprised the undergarment engineering that helped make the glorious gowns by Worth and other designers appear as glamorous as they did.

In addition to the architecture and the food, it is the fashion of the Gilded Age that always elicits comments and sighs at the very beauty and craftsmanship of the great gowns that swept by on ballroom floors. But the stunning and costly gowns, whether for a ball or for wear during the day, required a complex combination of undergarments to not only make the wearer feel comfortable, but also to give the outer clothing its required shape.

Dr. Elizabeth Block joins Carl for a discussion that includes insight into not only what garments were required, but also just how they were made and how they were worn. You may be surprised at just how comfortable and wearable some undergarments actually were. Liz and Carl's discussion includes a look at such curious accessories as the "lobster bustle" and even a corset for men.

Related episode:

Gilded Age French Fashion: The House of Worth and Beyond

Links

Elizabeth Block -

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The Hidden World of Gramercy Park: Unlocking History with Keith Taillon

Episode 77

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 • Duration 56:54

The small two acre square known since the 1830's as Gramercy Park has also been called "America's Bloomsbury". Taking the reference from London's famous neighborhood once home to many great writers and artists, New York's Gramercy Park has similarly included noted cultural icons from architect Stanford White to actor Edwin Booth to the great politician Samual Tilden.

Wandering along the park today it's easy to gain a view back into the past - many of the original Greek Revival brick townhouses and brownstone mansions remain, some still in private hands.

The park in the center is one of the most unique in America - it is a private park, not a city property and it's upkeep has been managed since its inception in the early 19th century by the property owners around the park itself. Writer and historian Keith Taillon joins Carl for this episode to look back into this hidden pocket of New York City's past and unlock its history.

The Gilded Gentleman website

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