Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

I just spent an hour going through the comments on my videos, as I will do from time to time.
9 out of 10 comments were nasty, condescending or both. What's wrong with people? Is it me? I don't remember peeing on so many people's corn flakes.
Is everyone OK out there?

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 29

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

I've been making YouTube videos for 13 years. Six of those full-time.

In that time I've learned things I wish someone had told me at the start — about staying honest with your audience, building something you actually believe in, and not chasing an algorithm that will never love you back.

I put the most important lessons into a 36-page Toolkit. It's called The Honest Creator Toolkit, and it's built around principles like:

You Are Not a Niche, You Are a Voice

The Trap of Algorithmic Worship

Failure is the Only Teacher That Sticks

It's for creators who are figuring out their voice — or who want something honest to measure themselves against when the direction isn't clear.

I'm also opening a handful of 1:1 Creator Audits — one hour, just the two of us, to look at what you're building and what to do next.

Both are live now. Links in the comments.

1 month ago | [YT] | 52

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

Hey, if anyone's getting the AirPods Max 2, let me know what you think here. I'm super curious to see if people are satisfied.

1 month ago | [YT] | 7

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

Let's talk about Suno for a second. A few weeks ago I made a video about taking a few scraps of music I wrote and some lyrics I wrote in 2012. It kinda blew me away, but it was nothing like the songs I typically write.
So last night I took another set of lyrics I wrote in the same 2012 time period and some guitar noodling I played into Voice Memos in 2017 and just used Suno suggested prompt phrases to approximate something like what I write.
It came up with a bunch of different interpretations as I tried different keys and different prompts and moved around the "weirdness" slider. I just listened to what it spit out and left it as is. I don't really see the point in trying to polish these things. I already hear what I would do differently and what I wouldn't do at all. But it's kind of like listening to someone cover a song I never wrote.
On a positive note, It took some floating, unused song bits I probably would haven't gone back to and turned them into something that kind of gave me a window into possibilities I wouldn't have considered.
From an artistic standpoint, it was educational and kind of inspirational and akin to what probably happens in a lot of writing rooms where people gather to try to cobble a song together from their own song bits and pieces.
Do I feel kindof dirty and like an enemy sympathizer? Yeah, a little, but it's too interesting not to screw around with.
This is probably one of the better ones it came up with. It might be a Don Henley song. Maybe I'll use it as inspiration for recording my own version.

Ambitious Fiction, a song I wrote with Suno. suno.com/s/qFtUtjbPoj10DXxC

1 month ago | [YT] | 10

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

New glasses. I guess I’ve entered my Kung Fu Elvis period.

2 months ago | [YT] | 76

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

I lost 20lbs in 5 days.

GLP-1 overdose is not fun.

"Sure, I'll inject myself with this stuff I got off the Internet. What could go wrong?"

In my case, they prescribed me a much higher dose than I should have been on. I had no clue how bad it could go.

Starting last Thursday, through 2 urgent care visits, 1 ER visit, 2 series of IV fluids, a CT scan, and now onto a pretty strong course of antibiotics, I have finally stopped running to the toilet 20 times a day. If that doesn't sound too bad, you're a stronger person than I.

Gastroparesis, diverticulitis, severely compromised kidney function, and a lot of other important interior parts not functioning correctly, I was seriously scared for my life for the whole awful experience. I'm not good dealing with health related problems, so YMMV.

2 months ago | [YT] | 34

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

I had a few things to get off my chest last night about where I am and what I can't do anymore.

2 months ago | [YT] | 28

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

I am completely blown away. I don't know if I'm excited or frightened.
I took a little orgam chord progression with a looped beat and I put it in Suno (the songwriting AI that people are deathly afriad of).
I would love to know what you think.
suno.com/s/ZAwgV5vxQNfHBzQF

2 months ago | [YT] | 24

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

I'm planning a year-end video about the biggest stories in tech—be it tech products, companies or the people who talk about tech. I definitely want to talk about Jon Prosser, but what else should I include?

4 months ago | [YT] | 19

Painfully Honest with Jason T. Lewis

So, the entire plot of Pluribus is a metaphor for the Internet.

We all understand that, right?

4 months ago | [YT] | 9