During the late 19th century, nearly 200 wealthy young American women were caught up in marriages with members of British and European nobility.

The goal was to secure aristocratic titles that would create a solid social position for the American family wishing to climb through the snobbery of Gilded Age society. The European gentlemen, meanwhile, wanted the American funds to shore up crumbling wealth and in some cases quite literally repair the ancestral estate.

But many of these forced marriages ended in sadness, divorce or even tragedy although some grew into true love matches.

Join Carl for this ENCORE episode as he unravels the social politics of some of the most famous Gilded Age Million Dollar Princesses including the model for The Gilded Age's Gladys Russell herself - Consuelo Vanderbilt who became the Duchess of Marlborough with her marriage to the Duke. .

Are you as bewitched and bedazzled with this season of HBO's The Gilded Age as we are? And have you been curious about how all the magic we see unfold in front of the camera actually happens?

Creative Producer Luke Harlan joins Carl for a look from the other side of the camera to explore how The Gilded Age is actually shaped, filmed and edited. How is the script developed? How is a typical scene filmed? What is it like shooting scenes in those Newport mansions? How do actors prepare for their roles? Luke and Carl discuss all this and much more.

Don't miss this unique look at the world of The Gilded Age from the other side of the camera.

The Gilded Gentleman looks at one of the most legendary figures of the Gilded Age – Caroline Astor, or the Mrs Astor, the ruler and creator of New York’s high society in the early 1870s. Is she anything like the depiction on HBO's The Gilded Age?

In collaboration with Southern social climber Ward McAllister, Mrs. Astor essentially created the rules for who was ‘acceptable’ in New York social circles.

But she’s also known for her battles with family members — most notably with her nephew (and next door neighbor) William Waldorf Astor. What was behind her unusual motivations? And in what unusual way did she decide to cap her legacy at the end of her life?

Carl is joined by Tom Miller, creator of the website Daytonian in Manhattan, documenting the history of New York City, one building at a time.

This is a rerun of one of Carl's first episodes of the Gilded Gentleman, re-edited and re-mastered to honor her latest appearance on television.

Visit the Bowery Boys website for more information and articles about New York City history.

The Gilded Age was by no means simply an East Coast phenomenon. Wealth, position and social structure evolved across the country as railroads and improved technology pushed the country west.

Denver, Colorado, grew from a "tavern town" at the foothills of the Rockies to an important Western center for commerce and society. Social Denver was largely ruled by the Southern-born Louise Sneed Hill whose very different and modern vision for how society could work paved a path for much more -- including new and more modern roles for women.

Author Shelby Carr Neuhauser joins Carl for the fascinating look into a true Western woman of the Gilded Age.

This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon.

The life of Frederick Douglass, the great 19th century statesman, orator, writer and abolitionist, is a triumphantly American story.

He was born into slavery in the early years of the 19th century and died at the very height of the Gilded Age. His tremendous talents as a leader brought him out of slavery and into the heart of the Gilded Age as a player in the political worlds of Lincoln, Grant and Hayes.

Joining Carl on this episode is scholar and author Connor Williams who traces Douglass's life from his early years in enslavement through his emancipation and travel in and outside America and his role as an abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage.

This episode was edited and produced by Kieran Gannon.

Connor has also appeared on the Gilded Gentleman podcast The Adirondacks and Great Camp Sagamore: Retreating to Nature in the Gilded Age

Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Stephanie Herdrich joins Carl for an in-depth look at how the career and personal life of Gilded Age artist John Singer Sargent evolved over his ten-year period in Paris from the 1870's to the mid 1880's.

Sargent is the subject of a major new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that focuses on this period beginning in his late adolescent years and leading up to the creation of his masterpiece - the grand, imposing and scandalous portrait of Virginie Gautreau, known as "Madame X".

Stephanie discusses some of Sargent's greatest works during this period, as well as some of his most important professional and personal relationships, all of which contributed to a boundary breaking artistic vision.

This show was edted by Kieran Gannon.

The Irish-born Augustus Saint-Gaudens came to this country as a small child and over the course of his career and life, reaching into the early years of the 20th century, became an artist that truly defined a look for America in sculpture.

His extraordinary natural talent grew into a master artist who was able to create lifelike depictions in marble and bronze that brought a realism never before seen in American sculpture. Saint-Gaudens style combines realistic imagery, allegory and architectural elements to create unique and very modern experiences for viewers.

He's perhaps best known for his monumental casts of Civil War heroes from Admiral Daniel Farragut, General William Tecumsek Sherman and President Abraham Lincoln.

Joining The Gilded Gentleman for this episode is Thayer Tolles, the Marica F. Vilcek Curator of American Painting and Sculpture at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Thayer is a noted historian, writer and specialist in Saint-Gaudens life and work. This episode offers a full view of Saint-Gaudens extraordinary life and a detailed look at some of his most famous works.

Listeners can also visit the Saint Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire.

With the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Gala on the first Monday of May and the new exhibition on John Singer Sargent and Paris, there is most definitely fashion in the air. In this ENCORE episode with listener favorite Dr. Elizabeth L. Block we delve into the stories of some of the most important designers and couture houses of Belle Epoque Paris.

This episode was based on Liz's first book, "Dressing Up: How American Women Influenced French Fashion". Don't miss LIz's news book "Beyond Vanity: The Power and History of Hairdressing" and our accompanying episode.