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PODCAST

Beautiful Illusions

Darron Vigliotti, Jeffrey Horton

Jeff & Darron ponder the intersection of reality, consciousness, and culture. These conversations comprise an ongoing attempt to construct meaning by exploring art and science, developing understanding of the context underpinning our current moment in time, and imagining possible futures for human civilization. No expertise here, just two guys who enjoy learning, thinking, and talking about big ideas, deep questions, and the “beautiful illusion” that is the subjective human experience. *New episodes

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

00:53:00

EP 39 - Catching Up On Lost Time

Beautiful Illusions ·

2025/11/09

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:8:56 - At 4,975 feet above sea level Black Mesa is the highest point in Oklahoma17:00 - See the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list (Rolling Stone, 2023)18:58 - Listen to “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam (YouTube)20:38 - See the Hollow Knight: Silksong Wikipedia entry and read “Silksong Broke Me - Then It Got Good” (Polygon, 2025)32:26 - See

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00:59:21

EP 38 - It's About Time

Beautiful Illusions ·

2025/03/23

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:3:00 - Emerson: The Mind on Fire by Robert D. Richardson7:32 - Listen to Mindscape Episode 300 - Solo: Does Time Exist? from January, 20257:36 - From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll7:38 - The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli12:58 - Read Nature and Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson20:28 - “Most people

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01:05:39

EP 37 - Memento Mori

Beautiful Illusions ·

2025/02/16

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:13:07 - Read “Why I Hope to Die at 75” by Ezekiel J. Emmanuel (The Atlantic, 2014)15:21 - For more see “'Why I hope to die at 75,' revisited” (Advisory Board, 2019) and the “Dr. Emanuel discusses his personal perspective on aging” page of his personal website.17:34 - Read “The Emperor of Ice-Cream” by Wallace Stevens34:03 - Listen to the Brain Science

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01:07:33

EP 36 - Authenticity In The Age Of AI

Beautiful Illusions ·

2024/12/22

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction from June 2024, in which we discuss issues raised in “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia (The Honest Broker, 2024)Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 34 - Icy Hot Takes on Artificial Intelligence from August 2024Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 35 -

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02:38:16

EP 35 - The Albums Of Our Lives

Beautiful Illusions ·

2024/09/29

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction from June 2024, in which we discuss issues raised in “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia (The Honest Broker, 2024)Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 34 - Icy Hot Takes on Artificial Intelligence from August 2024, where we discuss, among other things,

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01:00:03

EP 34 - Icy Hot Takes on Artificial Intelligence

Beautiful Illusions ·

2024/08/11

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:10 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction from June 2024, in which Dopamine Nation (2021) by Anna Lembke, MD is referenced and the idea of a “dopamine fast” is discussed.8:28 - See “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia (The Honest Broker, 2024)8:56 - According to Russian literary theorist and

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00:55:39

EP 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction

Beautiful Illusions ·

2024/06/23

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:25 - “The State of the Culture, 2024” by Ted Gioia (The Honest Broker, 2024)4:10 - Gioia cites Huxley’s Brave New World, which takes place in a future dystopia where the populace is essentially oppressed by their addiction to amusement, as the more likely outcome than the oppressive government control depicted in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. See

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01:03:02

EP 32 - We Read So We Can Talk

Beautiful Illusions ·

2024/04/14

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:26 - See “Something Went Terribly Wrong With Online Ads” (The Atlantic, 2024) and “Uber’s Ad Network Continues To Grow” (Marketing Brew, 2023)4:00 - Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom4:15 - See “The Western Canon” Wikipedia entry12:10 - See “Shakespeare Contra Nietzsche” (Marginalia, 2016)16:41 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions

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00:47:20

EP 31 - Life, Art, & Experience: A Conversation

Beautiful Illusions ·

2024/01/14

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:30 - Listen to “Now And Then” by The Beatles (YouTube)3:24 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 22 - What is Life? from March 20226:44 - Bruce Springsteen at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, September 3, 202310:57 - boygenius at Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, September 28, 202311:05 - boygenius is Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien

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00:53:04

EP 30 - What Does It Mean To Be A Man?

Beautiful Illusions ·

2023/11/26

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:5:40 - See the toxic masculinity Wikipedia entry6:04 - Listen to the August 7, 2023 episode of The Gray Area podcast, “The New Crisis of Masculinity,” and the May 12, 2023 of The Bulwark podcast, “Richard Reeves: The Trouble with Boys and Men”6:05 - Read “Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness.” (Washington Post, 2023) and “In Praise of

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00:52:30

EP 29 - Vacation Part 2: It's A Process

Beautiful Illusions ·

2023/10/08

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:4:12 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 26 - Vacation: The Pedantics & Semantics from November 20228:40 - Sometimes vacations are the opposite of fun, for more see this definitely NSFW clip from National Lampoon’s Vacation15:39 - Avatar Flight of Passage is a 3D thrill ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom18:20 - The Beach Club Resort at Disney is an

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00:39:37

EP 28 - Alcohol: To Drink, Or Not To Drink?

Beautiful Illusions ·

2023/07/30

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:30 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 10 - Craft Beer Culture: A Personal History from January 20213:07 - Listen to Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Episode 160 - Edward Slingerland on Confucianism, Daoism, and Wu Wei from 20213:13 - Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, by Edward Slingerland3:18 - Read “The Meaning of Dry

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00:41:08

EP 27 - A Gluten-Free Beautiful Illusion

Beautiful Illusions ·

2023/02/26

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:05 - See “What is Celiac Disease?” and “What is Gluten?” (Celiac Disease Foundation)9:24 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 16 - Partisan Pizza from July 202117:45 - See “Confirmation Bias And the Power of Disconfirming Evidence” (Farnam Street Blog)21:42 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self from

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00:33:44

EP 26 - Vacation: The Pedantics & Semantics

Beautiful Illusions ·

2023/01/01

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:50 - The “Hunting House” is in Clarendon, VT7:10 - See “Are Burgers and Hot Dog Sandwiches?” (The Daily Meal, 2021)7:40 - See “It Was Shoes On, No Boarding Pass Or ID. But Airport Security Forever Changed On 9/11” (NPR, 2021)10:23 - Walt Disney World10:45 - See “The dream Disney World vacation is too expensive for the average American family”

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00:34:50

EP 25 - Living the Dream

Beautiful Illusions ·

2022/11/06

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:7:28 - See “Negativity Bias” (The Decision Lab) and the abstract of “Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development” (Psychological Bulletin, 2008)8:52 - See “Teacher Salary Benchmarks” (National Education Association), “Ranking all 50 states on highest teacher pay shows the pinch of inflation” (District

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01:17:18

EP 24 - Slaughterhouse Five: A Look Through the...

Beautiful Illusions ·

2022/07/03

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:00 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 15 - The Mind of Gatsby: A Look Through the Cognitive Lens from June 20212:16 - Watch Carol Tavris and Elliot Aaronson describe “The Pyramid of Choice” and how it leads to justification of actions, leading to further action and self justification, which is an idea they present in their book Mistakes Were

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01:04:39

EP 23 - The Church of Music

Beautiful Illusions ·

2022/05/01

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:07 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 22 - What is Life? from March 2022 (but recorded in January 2022)3:48 - Listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing Ave Maria (YouTube)7:39 - The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt7:54 - The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Heinrich8:03 - This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin12:15 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions

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00:56:20

EP 22 - What is Life?

Beautiful Illusions ·

2022/03/06

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:20 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self from January 20224:30 - Listen to the excellent Strong Songs podcast which is created, recorded, and produced by Kirk Hamilton, the specific episode referenced here is from November 2021 and is a deep dive into the classic concert film Stop Making Sense by Talking

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01:14:40

EP 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self

Beautiful Illusions ·

2022/01/02

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:47 - Jeff’s 5 old desert island “favorite” books: Visions of Gerard by Jack Kerouac, Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins, Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Immortality by Milan Kundera, and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway3:29 - Darron’s 5 favorite movies: The Big Lebowski, Goodfellas, The Shawshank Redemption, The Empire Strikes Back, The

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01:10:28

EP 20 - Reflections on a Year of Beautiful Illusions

Beautiful Illusions ·

2021/11/07

Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episodeSelected References:2:43 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 10 - Craft Beer Culture: A Personal History from January 20215:10 - Athletic Brewing Company6:43 - Listen the Beautiful Illusions Episode 19 - How We Learn Like A Scout: Critically Thinking About Critical Thinking from October 2020, which is centered around a discussion of two books: The Scout Mindset: Why

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