Download a transcript.Listen and subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Wherever You ListenSign up to receive our weekly cultural-recommendations newsletter.The HBO series “The Gilded Age,” created by the period-drama maestro Julian Fellowes, took a moment to find its audience. But several seasons in, the lush sets, immaculate costuming, and soapy plotlines have attracted a robust viewership, making it must-watch television. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider the show’s appeal and whether its focus on high-society dramas makes it, as some critics have said, insipid or trivial. In his effort to bring the titular period to life, Fellowes both dramatizes and sanitizes the social tensions of the day, particularly in the case of the ruthless capitalist George Russell, whom viewers have affectionately nicknamed Train Daddy. Why are we so ready to cozy up to these historical avatars, even as anger toward modern billionaires’ meddling seems at an all-time high? “This show creates an avenue for viewers who politically are really opposed to that to actually indulge in it,” Schwartz says. “This is the sneak attack of Julian Fellowes.”Read, watch, and listen with the critics:“The Gilded Age” (2022-)“The Age of Innocence,” Edith Wharton“The Custom of the Country,” Edith Wharton“OpenAI’s Hollywood Whisperer,” by Charlotte Klein (New York)New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.