Cleared Hot Podcast Ep. 430

Brand Warfare, Bad Movies, and the Wet Boys | Jarred Taylor
Host: Andy Stumpf
Guest: Jarred "JT" Taylor
Air Date: January 30, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode reunites Andy Stumpf with long-time friend and military/veteran entrepreneur Jarred Taylor ("JT") for a signature freewheeling conversation. The two dive deep into the evolution of the veteran influencer sphere, the absurdities and awesomeness of niche internet communities, creative uses of AI and technology in branding, the psychology of social media, and, of course, flight simulators and questionable cinematic masterpieces. With tangents galore—ranging from "brand warfare" to a bank-heist getaway vehicle challenge—the episode balances laughs with honest introspection about culture, community, and personal change in the face of the digital age.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Military Past & Veteran Brands

• Jarred reflects on his unique military journey as an Air Force JTAC embedded with regular Army units, noting how those years built deep but scattered recognition in the veteran community.
• Discussion about Nine Line Apparel and Andy's love for their "miniature dachshund" merch, with a detour into canine history and the hilarity of dog breeds bred "to fight lions."
  • [04:37] Andy: “They were bred to fight lions.”
  • [04:39] JT: “Fight lions...”
• JT recalls his first apparel venture ("Beer Drinking Bomb Droppers")—creating shirts for a tiny global community of JTACs—and traces the explosion of veteran-run brands back to the 2012-2019 social media boom.

2. Brand Building & AI's Role in Creative Work

• JT breaks down how AI tools like ChatGPT, Upscale, and Photoshop/Illustrator have transformed brand and design workflows, letting him go from ideation to usable files in under an hour (versus weeks before).
  • [15:30] JT: "Now you can have ChatGPT give you 10 variations ... the old method ... would take a week and a half, two weeks for us to get a final T-shirt design. Now you can do it in an hour."
• They discuss how the skill today isn’t “being an illustrator,” but knowing how to prompt and guide AI—akin to “piloting an aircraft.”
  • [14:16] JT: “Using ChatGPT for art is like ... you have to know how to pilot that aircraft.”

3. AI, Media Manipulation, & Societal Vulnerabilities

• The conversation turns to the double-edged sword of rapid tech advances and free speech in an open society. JT notes foreign adversaries (especially China) have weaponized US media and speech freedoms by flooding digital discourse with divisive content.
  • [23:23] JT: "About 50,000 pieces of written media were being flooded into blogs and news from China—25,000 opposing and 25,000 rooting for the banning [of the confederate flag]. All they want is for us to fight each other and not pay attention to them."
• Both echo concern about social media’s psychological impact, addictive design, and ever-shrinking positivity/entertainment.
  • [33:30] Michael: "If you're online a couple hours a day, you give me two more hours per day—dude, I can get some stuff done and so can everybody else listening..."

4. The Rise and Fall (and Fatigue) of Influencer Culture

• JT grapples with why he stepped back from front-facing social and pod content: burnout, inauthentic audience expectations, and a shift from positive engagement to outrage-fueled discourse.
  • [30:59] JT: "I did not like the shift in the behavior of some of the audience ... they played into the character ... like, you think I'm Steve."
  • [40:54] JT: “When are you going to say something about the Ukraine? … Like, I talk about funny things on the Internet. Why do you care what my opinion on Ukraine is?”
• He diagnoses the pattern: a golden era of positivity (2012-2016), followed by a glut of imitators, engagement-jealousy, outrage, and now insistent demands for hot takes on every issue.

5. Escapism, Niche Subcultures, and the Joy of Sim Anything

• JT finds relief and creativity in “escapism”—whether via the short-lived podcast "Time for Pie" or via hyper-immersive flight sims and the “Wet Boys”: a tongue-in-cheek elite digital aerial demonstration team.
  • [67:03] JT: "We are the Wet Boys ... We started making claims that we had 18 worldwide trophies for E Demonstration until they started getting angry..."
• Extended riff on the absurd dedication of e-simulator air show teams, with the Wet Boys mock-feuding with the digital “E Blue Angels.”
• JT previews his innovative “4D entertainment” plan: a trilogy of novels and corresponding digital flight missions, with actual pilots, all blending fiction and online community.

6. Movies: Bad, Brilliant, & Bizarre

• Rapid-fire takes on “House of Dynamite,” "Arrival," "The Beekeeper," "From Paris with Love," and meta-observations on Hollywood vs. Netflix's future.
  • [48:53] JT: "I mean [the big studios] don’t ... They’re gone. Superheroes? That stuff is almost like d-- it’s..."
• JT’s ideal movie: skip the character arc, make the hero invincible from frame one; Andy counters that a good story needs vulnerability.
• They skewer “news” and social influencer cycles—the urge to produce a take before knowing the facts, especially after tragedies.

7. Big Picture: Technology, Aliens, and Existential Fun

• JT, channeling astrophysicist David Kipping ("Cool Worlds"), lays out cosmic scale and the practical impossibility of meaningful contact within an active, evolutionary timescale—our concept of time and distance is just too small.
  • [53:31] JT: "That is just one star that we know that is that big ... What if they're so goddamn big, they have nothing [to do with] us? We're like a marble to them."
• Theories range from simulation hypotheses to “terraforming ourselves post-nuke” to “video-game area limits”—framed half in jest, half in true sci-fi imagination.

8. Project Brainstorms & the Ultimate Getaway Vehicle

• The two outline a (real?) plan: assemble a team—including a car chase and law enforcement expert—to build and test the perfect post-bank-heist getaway ride, pitting it against actual police.
  • [96:30] JT: “What it is, is I want to bring in Texas Dave, you and me, a police expert ... build the be-all, end-all getaway vehicle for a bank heist."
• Discussion of specs, legal, tactical elements, and who on the crew must get tased for authenticity.
• Pledges to execute the project on camera and reward the “winning” police department with free coffee for a year.

9. Motorsports, Pastrana, & Looking Ahead

• Touches on BRCC Motorsports, upcoming races, collaborations with Cletus McFarland and Travis Pastrana, and reminiscences about wild stunts and injuries (Pastrana’s near-superhuman risk tolerance).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Media’s Arc:
  "From like 2012 to 2016, it was very much celebrated. ...Turned the camera, we're a group of veterans, we want to make a Hollywood movie. Everybody went, ‘Do it!’ ... There was this unity."
  — JT [36:28]
• On Outrage Culture:
  "Now ... the only path to getting attention was drawing a line in the sand and getting people to argue with you. ... If you look at the social landscape now, it's garbage."
  — JT [39:56]
• On AI and Creativity:
  "Using ChatGPT for art is like ... you have to know how to pilot that aircraft."
  — JT [14:16]
• On Outsized Digital Identities:
  "People were demanding [that] I make a post or statement, and then just seeing my feed filled with this image, it—like, podcasting made me sick. ... Ten years was enough."
  — JT [43:57]
• On Cosmic Perspective:
  "We're just algae. ... You could die, and ... you wake up and you're on the next planet. They're like, ‘Yeah, dude, there's like fucking 12 levels. You’ve only done one!’"
  — JT [54:21]
• On Escapism and Fun:
  "Nerd alert. How do people join the Wet Boys community?"
  — Andy [76:47]
• On Project Planning:
  "We need a fab shop that's willing to help us build this vehicle. ... If you're a good mechanic that wants to build something really cool, that'll be branded..."
  — JT [99:24]
• On Heroic Movies:
  "I want the biggest gun, unlimited ammo. I want to see you just win the whole time."
  — JT [79:53]
• On Personal Clarity:
  "Honestly, dude, like, mental health wise, clarity ... more productive time available. You could go watch TV, but dude, if you're online a couple hours, you give me two more hours—I can get some stuff done."
  — Andy [33:30]

Timestamps by Segment

• Veteran Brand Stories & Military Structure ......................... [00:48–11:00]
• AI, Art, and Brand Development ......................................... [11:00–20:34]
• AI, Information Warfare & Social Media Manipulation .... [20:34–25:58]
• Influencer Burnout & Audience Evolution ......................... [27:44–34:56]
• Flight Simulators, E-Demo Squadrons, and the Wet Boys .. [58:00–72:56]
• Movies, Hollywood vs. Streaming, Bad Movies Good Vibes [46:02–81:20]
• Aliens, Simulation Theory, Cool Worlds ............................... [50:14–54:21]
• Upcoming Motorsports, BRCC, Travis Pastrana ................ [84:30–90:17]
• Bank Heist Getaway Vehicle Project .................................. [96:30–102:29]
• Wrap Up, Set Tour, Anecdotes ............................................ [91:07–104:39]

Tone & Style

The episode is energetic, irreverent, and loaded with inside jokes, but balances the absurdity with nuanced takes on culture, technology, and the emotional cost of public personas. Both Andy and JT oscillate between sharp wit, creative brainstorms, and honest self-reflection—never shying away from calling out dysfunction (in media, culture, or themselves) while also celebrating community, niche passion, and the capacity for reinvention.

For Further Exploration

• Learn more about "Cool Worlds" with astrophysicist David Kipping on YouTube.
• Watch: "House of Dynamite," "Arrival," "From Paris with Love," and "The Beekeeper" (ideally with JT’s irreverent expectations).
• Look for updates on the Wet Boys books and the interactive digital sim community.
• Follow BRCC Motorsports for future racing events and the planned “getaway car” challenge.

This summary captures the dynamic range of Ep. 430—equal parts veteran entrepreneurial shop talk, meta-podcast dissection, digital-age skepticism, and gleeful flights of imagination.