It was said to have inspired some of the greatest art of Belle-Ipac-Poc France in late Victorian England.

Degas and Manet painted denizens of the Paris cafes reveling in its pleasures.

Gogin himself enjoyed its effects, and along with Van Gogh, it was said to have helped produce

moments of their greatest creative visions.

French poets, Baudelaire and Rambaud, were avid drinkers, and it even seems that the great

Marcel Pust was known to partake. French short story writer Guy de Mopassant described

its curious sensations in his work, and Oscar Wilde even compared its influence to experiencing a sunset.

Henri Taluz Latrak was so passionate about it that it said he wandered around the streets

of Paris with a hollow cane filled with this mysterious green liquid, so a quick infusion was always

at his fingertips. Even mentioning its name conjures an

image of artists, writers, and musicians overtaken seemingly by its mysterious and even dangerous

powers. It's impossible to even say its name without visions of joy and decadence and intrigue.

It is Absent.

Today's show with my special guest and absent expert Don Spiro,

it will unlock the myths and mythology of this drink known since the Belipuck as the Green Fairy.

Whether you imbibe or not, join us for a voyage back to the late 19th century cafes

of the Impressionists and the bars of London's dandies to see just what the drama was all about.

Music what the drama was all about. I'm Carl Raymond, the host of the Gilded Gentleman History podcast, where every two weeks I take you well beyond the glitter and the gold to explore the host of the Gilded Gentleman History podcast where every two weeks I take you well

beyond the glitter in the gold to explore the worlds of America's gilded age, France's

Belipoc and England's late Victorian and Edwardian eras. Paris, at the end of the 19th century,

was the place to be. A tremendous optimism was everywhere following the destruction of

the Franco-Prussian war. The city spilled onto the streets showing itself off in new fashions and

...