Historian Carl Raymond joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about the Gilded Age. If John D. Rockefeller lived today, who would be the richest person: him or Elon Musk? When did the Gilded Age end? How long would it take for a Gilded Age woman to get ready? Answers to these questions and many more await on Gilded Age Support.
Check out more from Carl Raymond and The Gilded Gentleman History Podcast:
@carlthegildedgentleman
WIRED recommends:
Watch more from WIRED | Tech Support:
#GildedAge #VictorianEra #History
00:00 – Gilded Age Support
00:14 – New money, old habits, better ballroom
01:02 – Belles, bustles, and bad intentions
02:01 – Gilded Age: Elden Ring DLC
02:46 – BBL dresses
03:44 – An appetite of monopolistic proportions
05:45 – The Rockefellers walked so modern tech CEOs could run
06:48 – The 1% of the 1%
08:36 – Musk vs. Rockefeller
09:18 – The ruthless robber barons
12:21 – Ballroom? Grand. Bathroom? Exclusive.
13:28 – High titles, low liquidity
14:47 – The party’s over, Vanderbilt
15:39 – Brb, fastening the 45 tiny buttons on my gown
17:07 – Gilded Age Manhattan vs. today
18:18 – “The only 400 people who matter”
19:52 – Table for 1 at the Oil-ive Garden
20:46 – Newport behavior
21:43 – Yellow journalism: the original fake news
22:43 – Murder! Murder! Read all about it
23:37 – Having everything is boring
24:53 – The Black 400
26:02 – Opera? Never heard of them, darling
26:44 – Catch me at the Guggenheim, how about that?
Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►►
Download the WIRED app:
Listen to the Uncanny Valley podcast ►►
Want more WIRED? Get the magazine ►►
Follow WIRED:
Instagram ►►
Twitter ►►
Facebook ►►
Tik Tok ►►
ABOUT WIRED
WIRED is where tomorrow is realized.
@CelestialPug-ed8vd
November 3, 2026 at 1:00 pm
despite there being important Jewish society figures then (including “old families and old money”), anti-semitism was rife and there were “restrictions”— sometimes overt and sometimes covert. as with wealthy black society, there were often separate milieus, although admittedly more crossover. agree that this would be great/ interesting addition to hbo series.
@ciarralyne8254
November 3, 2026 at 1:04 pm
can we ungild 2026 tho
@MsNatiBug
November 3, 2026 at 4:46 pm
It’s barely gilded.
It’s all openly disgusting and crass and gross ànd slovenly
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:56 pm
Your Bagel?
@evanescent9863
November 3, 2026 at 1:16 pm
When I think of NYC Gilded Age, I think of all the things depicted in the HBO show, but also the many libraries that Andrew Carnegie helped build around country, including where I grew up, and where I currently live. I like when there’s a philanthropic, public good piece involved.
@peasincornfields
November 3, 2026 at 5:05 pm
Today’s gilded age is much less intelligent and much much more selfish. “Here’s another yacht.. for myself. tehe” No public works. Nothing.
@harper_0210
November 3, 2026 at 1:17 pm
So glad this guy is back
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:56 pm
Your Hershey?
@marig9236
November 3, 2026 at 1:22 pm
The Age of Innocence is also set in the gilded age.
@Neetupam
November 3, 2026 at 1:48 pm
What innocence do you mean in this sense?
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:56 pm
Your Kyle?
@peasincornfields
November 3, 2026 at 5:06 pm
Oh Like the Enya song?
@AaronJoseYoung
November 3, 2026 at 1:40 pm
im happy professor knew what a bbl was
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:57 pm
Your Ted?
@galloe8933
November 3, 2026 at 1:45 pm
The age of Choo Choo booties. I say that liking big butts was something we could never lie about. The train part, I’m uneasy about…
@sunblock8717
November 3, 2026 at 2:08 pm
Saying she was “quite young” when Nesbit met White is an understatement. Nesbit was 15 or 16 and White was a married 46 years old when they first met.
@12thDecember
November 3, 2026 at 2:08 pm
John D. Rockefeller and Elon Musk, two unscrupulous peas in a gilded pod.
@Victoria-vd2li
November 3, 2026 at 2:11 pm
8:07 omg LOL they went on benders just like we do
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:57 pm
Your Iguana?
@jonoon27
November 3, 2026 at 2:17 pm
The food and fashion he explains was limited to only a handful. Average people did not have rotated peacock for dinner, and did ballroom dancing after a dessert of fresh ice cream!
@MsNatiBug
November 3, 2026 at 4:55 pm
I have a craving for roasted peacock
@dennishapca
November 3, 2026 at 2:26 pm
elon musk is 4% of the GDP?! now that really puts it into perspective, how absurd it really is
@MsNatiBug
November 3, 2026 at 4:43 pm
He’s such a dork
@userghr87689
November 3, 2026 at 2:36 pm
it’s guccionmicucci not guccionmiucci
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:57 pm
Your Stamp?
@ouroboros6788
November 3, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Man, Rockefeller looked like a ghoul
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:57 pm
Your Dracula?
@daCuddz
November 3, 2026 at 2:57 pm
So basically BBL 😂😂😂 3:37
@eeniemeanieminy
November 3, 2026 at 2:58 pm
Right, he didn’t answer why 😭
@daCuddz
November 3, 2026 at 3:54 pm
@eeniemeanieminyRight?🤷
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Your Fester?
@sugaryhull9688
November 3, 2026 at 3:31 pm
Mark Twain was a real cool dude!
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Your Duke?
@chillhilld
November 3, 2026 at 3:45 pm
I live in RI! Basically grew up next to Newport and have been to the mansions quite a few times. Words in a YouTube comment cannot describe the grandiosity of these mansions *cough* I mean these “SUMMER COTTAGES” as they were called. Lord…
@drewbreezy5854
November 3, 2026 at 4:00 pm
Ugh. Its strange to think the rich have always been cringe af.
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Your Hello?
@DataRew
November 3, 2026 at 4:03 pm
Musk “beating” Rockefeller isn’t a good thing.
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Your Gown?
@Areola-Borealis
November 3, 2026 at 4:40 pm
Y’all should have Cora Harrington on to talk about historical corsetry
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:59 pm
Your Dress?
@iconoclastic-fantastic
November 3, 2026 at 4:41 pm
I’ve been saying that we’ve been living in a new gilded age since I was a junior in high school (2012-2013), and that it would only get worse. And now look where we are lol
@MacMasore
November 3, 2026 at 4:57 pm
1:59 also those colors have a function on tv
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 4:59 pm
Your Jaguar?
@Shannon-6o
November 3, 2026 at 5:00 pm
Never a more appropriate time to review the gilded age than now ……
@ChurchOfThought
November 3, 2026 at 5:04 pm
Your Cappuccino?
@jakeroege
November 3, 2026 at 7:06 pm
Were there famous Gilded Age people in other cities than New York?
@cait2449
November 3, 2026 at 7:51 pm
the old billionaires at least built useful public infrastructure – Carnegie libraries, etc. The modern wealthy class offer society… what, exactly? addiction to their products?