Episodes

  • EP 35 - The Albums Of Our Lives

    EP 35 - The Albums Of Our Lives
    Sep 29 2024

    Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode

    Selected 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, “The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse” by Rick Beato
    • Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 31 - Life, Art, & Experience: A Conversation which we recorded in November 2024

    This episode was recorded in August 2024

    The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti
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    2 hrs and 38 mins
  • EP 34 - Icy Hot Takes on Artificial Intelligence

    EP 34 - Icy Hot Takes on Artificial Intelligence
    Aug 11 2024
    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 critic Victor Shklovsky, “Art makes the familiar strange so that it can be freshly perceived. To do this it presents its material in unexpected, even outlandish ways: the shock of the new” and “Art exists to help us recover the sensation of life; it exists to make us feel things, to make the stone stony. The end of art is to give a sensation of the object seen, not as recognized. The technique of art is to make things 'unfamiliar,' to make forms obscure, so as to increase the difficulty and the duration of perception.”10:40 - See “What is AI?” (IBM) for a good general overview10:55 - See “What Are Large Language Models?” (IBM) and the relevant LLM Wikipedia entry16:20 - Suno and Udio are two popular generative AI-powered music creation tools that work based on prompting17:40 - Listen to “Beautiful Illusions” or “Beautiful Illusions” which are two initial alternate song versions created by Suno (in about 1 minute) using the following prompt and no additional iterating beyond the original output: An early 60's style acoustic folk song called Beautiful Illusions with lyrics about how we all live our own perceived reality, solo acoustic, guitar, strumming, harmonica, folk, coffee house 20:30 - See “Detecting AI fingerprints: A guide to watermarking and beyond” (Brookings Institution, 2024)25:43 - See “Bias against AI art can enhance perceptions of human creativity” (Nature, 2023)28:10 - See Darron’s “Vonnegut-Style Quotations Challenge,” which was expressly created to test Jeff’s thesis here and see if he can identify genuine Vonnegut quotes versus ones that AI generates30:58 - See “Humans in the Loop: The Design of Interactive AI Systems” (Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, 2019) and “Artificial Intelligence and Keeping Humans “in the Loop”” (Center for International Governance Innovation, 2020)31:35 - See “What are AI Agents?” (IBM) and “What is Strong AI?” (IBM) for good overviews 34:46 - See Artistree or MadeMay for examples of online spaces where art can be commissioned directly from artists36:15 - See “Glue in Pizza? Eat Rocks? Google's AI Search Is Mocked for Bizarre Answers” (CNET, 2024) and “Google Search Is Now a Giant Hallucination” (Gizmodo, 2024) and “What are AI hallucinations?” (Google Cloud)40:30 - See “In Experiment, AI Successfully Impersonates Famous Philosopher” (Vice, 2022) and “Creating a large language model of a philosopher” (Mind & Language, 2023)41:18 - See character.ai42:48 - Read the op-ed “ChatGPT is at odds with what education is for” (The Boston Globe, 2024)49:31 - Listen to “If I Were A Carpenter” by Tim Hardin54:41 - Watch “The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse” by Rick BeatoThis episode was recorded in June 2024The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti
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    1 hr
  • EP 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction

    EP 33 - The Post-Entertainment Culture of Addiction
    Jun 23 2024
    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 “Pleasures” - a 1923 essay by Huxley published in Vanity Fair for more on his thoughts regarding the problematic ease of entertainment in the early 20th century.6:15 - See Gioia’s “fish” model8:16 - See “The Tiktokification of Everything” (Single Grain) and “The ‘TikTokification’ of the next generation” (Empoword Journalism, 2023)11:33 - Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985) by Neil Postman13:06 - “The medium is the message” is a phrase and chapter title that comes from a 1964 book by Marshall McLuhan called Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, and it posits that that a communication medium itself, not the messages it carries, needs to be carefully considered because while the content of the medium is a message that can be easily grasped, the character of the medium is another message which can be easily overlooked, and it is this message that ultimately shapes “the scale and form of human action.”13:50 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 32 - We Read So We Can Talk from April 202421:53 - Dopamine Nation (2021) by Anna Lembke, MD explores the interconnection of pleasure and pain in the brain and helps explain addictive behaviors — not just to drugs and alcohol, but also to food, sex, and smartphones. For more see “In 'Dopamine Nation,' Overabundance Keeps Us Craving More” (NPR, 2021) and watch Dr. Lembke discuss the science behind the book in a YouTube clip.22:01 - See the “Anhedonia” Wikipedia entry23:24 - The Anxious Generation (2024) by Jonathan Haidt23:38 - Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It (2022) by Richard Reeves27:53 - See “Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound.” by Maryanne Wolf (The Guardian, 2018) and her book Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World28:10 - Reading in the Brain by Stanislas Dehaene33:04 - See “TikTok’s ‘Roman Empire’ Meme, Explained” (Forbes, 2023)34:30 - Read “Tradition and the Individual Talent” by T.S. Eliot (Poetry Foundation)34:52 - Watch the “8 Led Zeppelin Songs That 'Rip Off' Other Songs” YouTube video37:07 - The Righteous Mind (2012) by Jonathan Haidt37:48 - Ready Player One (book, 2011) by Ernest Cline and movie (2018)38:14 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 16 - Partisan Pizza from July 202141:48 - See “Humans can barely distinguish AI-generated content from human-created content” (The Decoder, 2024)42:22 - See “Socrates on the Invention of Writing and the Relationship of Writing to Memory” and “Socrates on the Forgetfulness that Comes with Writing”46:50 - See “Boredom: A History of Western Philosophical Perspectives” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) and “Heidegger’s “Profound Boredom”: using boredom to cultivate the soul” (blog post from Eric Hyde)This episode was recorded in April 2024The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti
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    56 mins
  • EP 32 - We Read So We Can Talk

    EP 32 - We Read So We Can Talk
    Apr 14 2024
    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 Episode 29 - Vacation Part 2: It’s A Process from October 202322:35 - See the Great American Novel Wikipedia entry and list22:54 - In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust22:25 - The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein25:30 - Sean M. Carroll25:40 - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen26:10 - Babel and The Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang27:55 - Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein31:48 - The Shining novel by Stephen King and The Shining movie directed by Stanley Kubrick33:20 - One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest novel by Ken Kesey and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest movie36:15 - The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub42:40 - The Scream painting by Edvard Munch43:40 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 15 - The Mind of Gatsby: A Look Through the Cognitive Lens from June 202147:25 - Shark Heart by Emily Habeck55:36 - Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarrantino58:49 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 31 - Life, Art, & Experience: A Conversation, recorded in November 2023 and released in January 2024
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • EP 31 - Life, Art, & Experience: A Conversation

    EP 31 - Life, Art, & Experience: A Conversation
    Jan 14 2024
    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 Baker12:05 - See “The Infinite Gay Joy of Boygenius” and “Boygenius’ Big, Emotional, Gay-as-Hell Night Out at Madison Square Garden” (this happened to be the next show after the New Haven show)14:10 - Collective effervescence is a sociological concept coined by Émile Durkheim, read the Wikipedia entry14:20 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self from January 202216:57 - Writing in The Atlantic about his new book, World Within A Song, Jeff Tweedy says “No matter how many people hear the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” there’s only one version that belongs to you. Our appraisals might align, but I doubt your version includes a memory of waiting for the doors to open at an all-ages Jodie Foster’s Army concert on Laclede’s Landing, in St. Louis, as a flooding Mississippi River rages down Wharf Street and heaves up onto the steps of the Gateway Arch. Your mind melting down on mushrooms, watching a husband-and-wife street-performing duo sing “A Day in the Life” while their toddler does laps around you keeping shockingly good time on a tambourine. It’d be cool if we could see the worlds within the songs inside one another’s heads. But I also love how impenetrable it all is. I love that what’s mine can’t be yours, and we still get to call it ours. Songs are the best way I know to make peace with our lack of a shared consciousness.”17:55 - Read “Tradition and the Individual Talent” by T.S. Eliot (Poetry Foundation)18:15 - Read “The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot (Poetry Foundation)21:48 - The exact quote comes from chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby - "What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?" cried Daisy, "and the day after that, and the next thirty years?" "Don't be morbid," Jordan said. "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."26:55 - Listen to the 2023 mix of “Love Me Do” and the 2009 remaster of the original mono recording by The Beatles28:00 - Watch “Now And Then - The Last Beatles Song,” a short film about how the song was made using old recordings, new recordings, and modern technology44:25 - For (much much) more on Jeff and Darron’s experiences with Bob Dylan listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 2 - Our Back Pages from September 2020This episode was recorded remotely in November 2023The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti 
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    47 mins
  • EP 30 - What Does It Mean To Be A Man?

    EP 30 - What Does It Mean To Be A Man?
    Nov 26 2023

    Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode

    Selected References:

    • 5:40 - See the toxic masculinity Wikipedia entry
    • 6:04 - 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 Heroic Masculinity” (The Atlantic, 2023)
    • 6:08 - See The Art of Manliness website and podcast
    • 8:46 - See “The Enduring Grip of the Gender Wage Gap” (Pew Research Center, 2023) and “The Women’s Leadership Gap” (American Progress, 2018), and for much more detail on a global scale see the World Economic Forum’s “Global Gender Gap Report 2023”
    • 9:33 - See the Marlboro Man Wikipedia entry
    • 19:40 - See “What’s the Difference Between Sex and Gender?” (WebMD, 2023)
    • 39:36 - See “Annual Sheehan-Lyman Hall powder puff game continues to draw attention in its 50th year” (Hartford Courant, 2021)
    • 49:50 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 22 - What is Life? from March 2022

    This episode was recorded in October 2023

    The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti
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    53 mins
  • EP 29 - Vacation Part 2: It's A Process

    EP 29 - Vacation Part 2: It's A Process
    Oct 8 2023

    Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode

    Selected References:

    • 4:12 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 26 - Vacation: The Pedantics & Semantics from November 2022
    • 8:40 - Sometimes vacations are the opposite of fun, for more see this definitely NSFW clip from National Lampoon’s Vacation
    • 15:39 - Avatar Flight of Passage is a 3D thrill ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
    • 18:20 - The Beach Club Resort at Disney is an amazing hotel that not only has the best pool in Disney, but is a quick 5-minute walk from EPCOT’s International Gateway
    • 19:53 - Get a baguette and a variety of other amazing baked goods at Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie
    • 22:00 - Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT’s World Discovery section is a simply astounding reverse-launch coaster that opened in 2022
    • 23:49 - Try the famous school bread at the Norway Pavilion’s Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe in EPCOT’s World Showcase
    • 28:48 - Ted’s Restaurant in Meriden, Connecticut is known for its steamed cheeseburgers, which is a somewhat idiosyncratic style featured in this small region of central Connecticut
    • 33:00 - Listen to the 6-part podcast series “The Road That Killed A City” from journalist Jim Krueger which chronicles the construction of I-84 through Hartford and its impact on the local community
    • 36:38 - The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Site in Tuskegee, Alabama celebrates and commemorates the group of African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II
    • 37:28 - Bahia Honda State Park and Curry Hammock State Park in the Florida Keys
    • 39:05 - See “Florida ocean temperature topped 100F, setting potential record” (Phys.org, 2023)
    • 39:51 - See “Duke Heat Expert: ‘2023 May Be the Coolest Summer For the Rest of Our Lives’” (Duke Today, 2023)
    • 47:46 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 28 - Alcohol: To Drink, Or Not To Drink? from July 2023

    This episode was recorded in August 2023

    The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti
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    53 mins
  • EP 28 - Alcohol: To Drink, Or Not To Drink?

    EP 28 - Alcohol: To Drink, Or Not To Drink?
    Jul 30 2023

    Visit our website BeautifulIllusions.org for a complete set of show notes and links to almost everything discussed in this episode

    Selected References:

    • 2:30 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 10 - Craft Beer Culture: A Personal History from January 2021
    • 3:07 - Listen to Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Episode 160 - Edward Slingerland on Confucianism, Daoism, and Wu Wei from 2021
    • 3:13 - Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, by Edward Slingerland
    • 3:18 - Read “The Meaning of Dry January” (The Atlantic, 2023)
    • 7:36 - See “No, moderate drinking isn’t good for your health” (Washington Post, 2023) and “No Amount Of Alcohol Is Good For Your Health, Global Study Says” (NPR, 2018)
    • 11:50 See the “Alcohol Facts and Statistics” page from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
    • 26:30 - Listen to the “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health” episode of the Huberman Lab podcast with Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.
    • 33:20 - In general Gen Y, or Millenials (born between 1980 and 1994) drink less than previous generations, and Gen Z (born between 1995 and 2009) drink less than Gen Y. See “Millennials and Gen Zers Embrace “Life Can Take You Higher than Alcohol” (National Public Health Information Coalition, 2022) and “Why GenZ Is Drinking Less And What This Means For The Alcohol Industry” (Forbes, 2023)
    • 34:35 - See “Is a Glass of Wine Harmless? Wrong Question.” by Emily Oster (The Atlantic, 2023) which opines that “Excessive alcohol consumption clearly leads to significant problems, physical and emotional. That is not up for debate. However: Recent rhetoric, veering in the direction of abstinence, goes well beyond the sound advice to avoid heavy drinking and ignores the value of pleasure.”
    • 36:23 - Listen to Beautiful Illusions Episode 21 - The Myth of the Desert Island Self  from January 2022

    This episode was recorded remotely in January 2023

    The “Beautiful Illusions Theme” was performed by Darron Vigliotti (guitar) and Joseph Vigliotti (drums), and was written and recorded by Darron Vigliotti
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    40 mins