The Real Mamie Fish with Ashlie Atkinson and Keith Taillon

The Gilded Gentleman

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.