The Real Mamie Fish with Ashlie Atkinson and Keith Taillon

01/23/24 • 53 min

Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, known to all as just Mamie, was another of the larger-than-life personalities during the Gilded Age. For this episode, Carl is joined by historian and writer Keith Taillon and actor Ashlie Atkinson, who portrays Mamie Fish in HBO's The Gilded Age, for a look at just who this complicated and fascinating woman really was.

If you received an invitation to a party at Mamie Fish's - you went. Mamie Fish, who had an iron clad family pedigree and enough money to compete with other Gilded Age hostesses, was known as a "fun maker". While at Mrs. Astor's you may have cemented your role in society, at Mamie's, you just had a really good time.

Her parties bordered on the outrageous, from inviting an elephant as a guest to co-hosting the famous dinner for dogs, some of them adorned with diamond collars.

But who was Mamie Fish and why do we find her fascinating today? Historian Keith Taillon and actor Ashlie Atkinson offer deeply insightful perspectives on this woman who perhaps sought to break out of the role prescribed to her and shake up society.

Mamie Fish, when looked at through a modern lens, was challenging, complicated, conflicted and certainly controversial. But given the Gilded Age's restrictions and gender rules, it's interesting to consider how much she could also be considered a rebel and revolutionary for her time.

Her parties bordered on the outrageous, from inviting an elephant as a guest to co-hosting the famous dinner for dogs, some of them adorned with diamond collars.

Previous Episode

Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" with Dr. Emily Orlando

Edith Wharton published The Age of Innocence at a very important moment in her life. When the novel came out in 1920, she had been living in France full-time for nearly 10 years and had seen the devastating effects of World War I up close.

Her response was to look back with a sense of nostalgia to the time of her childhood to recreate that staid, restrictive world of New York in the 1870s that, despite its often social cruelty and harsh judgements, seemed to have some kind of moral center. It was a world in which Wharton as a creative woman, however, could not live and work, and thus, she transferred her life in stages to France.

In this episode, Dr. Emily Orlando, a noted Wharton scholar, joins Carl to delve into the background of this novel, take a deep dive into the personalities of the major characters, and discuss what Wharton wanted to say in her masterpiece.

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The Sculptor and the Angel: The Untold Story of Emma Stebbins

In this episode, journalist and biographer Maria Teresa Cometto joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look into the life of New York-born 19th-century sculptor Emma Stebbins. Emma Stebbins is most noted for her iconic bronze statue, The Angel of the Waters, which was placed on Central Park's Bethesda Terrace in 1873. Maria Teresa Cometto is the author of the recently published "Emma and the Angel of Central Park", the first extensive biographical look at Stebbins' life.

Many locals and visitors may be aware of parts of the story of Emma Stebbins - that her Angel was the first public statue in New York produced by a woman and that her life included a domestic partnership with another woman. But there is much more in the story. This is the story of a creative artistic woman whose life, which began in early 19th-century New York, expanded and flourished in a community of fellow artists and sculptors in mid-century Rome.

This is a very Italian story in many ways, set against the backdrop of the ruins, museums, and palaces of classical Rome. Emma's story includes love, betrayal, inspiration, tragedy, and even a bit of mystery. Her most well known creation, the famed Angel of the Waters, while perhaps her most significant work, is indeed only part of the story.