How HBO's The Gilded Age reflects wider tensions within 19th-century New York and American society

By Darius Wainwright, University of Bristol

“The opera is where society puts itself on display,” claims Bertha Russell, one of the main protagonists in season two of HBO’s The Gilded Age.

New York, where the show is set, was at the centre of the era of late 19th-century American history from which the programme takes its name. The Gilded Age was a period of marked economic growth and development during which many American cities, particularly New York, rapidly industrialised.

Individuals and families who made their money through these developments quickly came into conflict with those with inherited wealth. The Gilded…

Read complete article

~	How collaboration from across Canada, and the world, is helping fight the Alberta wildfires

~	Video game performers are becoming Hollywood stars in their own right − and are on strike to be paid and protected accordingly

~	Paris Olympics: Canada’s soccer drone scandal highlights the need for ethics education

~	World News in Brief: Historic Palestine monastery on World Heritage in Danger List, rights office condemnation as Ghana upholds anti-gay law, free jailed Russian activist

~	Nearly half of children born in Wales in 2002-3 classed as having special educational needs – this may have negatively affected their attainment

~	Bosses are increasingly forcing workers back into the office – but evidence suggests it could backfire

~	Commonly used drug may extend women’s fertility, claim researchers – here’s what you need to know about rapamycin

~	The first farmers often made landscapes more biodiverse – our research could have lessons for rewilding today

~	An artist has stolen a coin from the British Museum as part of a performance piece – but is the artwork ethical?

~	Books That Shook the Business World: The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken