Kaleb Nation's Blog

On the June 11, 2025, episode of Ask Dr. Drew, Kaleb Nation voiced concerns about proposed government contracts with Palantir and the gradual loss of privacy in the United States. He compares the proposal to the Patriot Act, enacted during Kaleb’s post-9/11 childhood, which initially appeared to be an effective surveillance law for keeping Americans safe from terrorism but has since been misused for political reasons and to target innocent citizens.

Kaleb weighs the risks and benefits of Palantir and a National ID. How can a central repository of all Americans’ data ever be safe from hackers and bad actors? And what happens when the people in power today are replaced with others every 4 years – will they uphold the same promises?

Rogan O’Handley, known as DC Draino, is a former entertainment lawyer with over 7 million followers. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School.

Brian O’Shea is an investigative journalist at Daily Clout and host of Unrestricted Invasion. With 30 years in military and government intelligence, he holds a master’s in Criminal Justice from Boston University.

Dr. Drew is a board-certified physician with over 35 years of national radio shows, NYT bestselling books, and countless TV shows bearing his name. He’s known for Celebrity Rehab (VH1), Teen Mom OG (MTV), The Masked Singer (FOX), multiple hit podcasts, and the iconic Loveline radio show.

The post Palantir & Privacy: Lifesaving Technology or Another Patriot Act? w/ Dr. Drew, Rogan O’Handley, Brian O’Shea first appeared on Kaleb Nation | Official Website - TV Personality, Author and Executive Producer.

Dr. Drew & Susan Pinsky visited Alabama and finally got to meet the babies!

The post Dr. Drew Visits Alabama, Meets The Nation Family! first appeared on Kaleb Nation | Official Website - TV Personality, Author and Executive Producer.

Roseanne Barr was once a darling of Hollywood progressives – even winning the very first Vanguard Award from GLAAD in honor of her pioneering contributions to diversity on television. But in the years since her hit TV sitcom was canceled and rebooted, Roseanne’s style of comedy has come under fire. After a particularly controversial post on X (formerly Twitter), Barr was “cancelled” by the very mainstream networks that made millions off her name.

“One of my earliest memories as a child was overhearing the Roseanne theme song from my parents’ TV,” says Kaleb Nation during a February 6, 2024, interview with Roseanne on Ask Dr. Drew.

“Seems to me like something shareholders should sue over,” Kaleb adds, “because this was a very popular show – number 1 – and it makes no sense to me that a network would (cancel it).”

The post Roseanne Barr: GLAAD Vanguard Winner & TV Comedian Pioneer Is Now Blacklisted By Hollywood… Over Her Comedy w/ Dr. Drew first appeared on Kaleb Nation | Official Website - TV Personality, Author and Executive Producer.

Top Youtubers are following a dangerous trend that’s killing teens. Almost everyone does it — years ago, when I was a daily vlogger, I did it too. A lot of people wrongly believe this is safe. The only way your favorite vloggers will stop is if YOU keep telling them (and your friends) about the enormous risks. I joined Michaela on HLN to discuss how vloggers and influencers can help put an end to this deadly habit.

It only took me 10 minutes of browsing random daily vlogs – all posted this month with millions of views – to find four influencers doing the same thing that got these teens killed (sans the driver’s reported BAC). They probably have no idea that this is so dangerous because they’ve also seen many top vloggers doing it before them.

“We do it all the time – all the time. Trust me, it’s like a reflex. Like I haven’t crashed, you know?”

Sound familiar? Vloggers tend to make these same excuses when this topic is brought up. Those words are actually from Obdulia Sanchez on a phone call from jail, trying to explain why she live streamed the deaths of her two teenage passengers.

No Youtuber is at fault for what happened. People make their own choices. But teens see their favorite vloggers doing this every day without dying, so why should they worry? This way of thinking will keep leading to more deaths until top Youtubers step up and say it has to stop.

Your life is worth more than anything you’ll say into the camera while you’re on the road. Don’t take the risk. Vlog when you’re vlogging, drive when you’re driving.

The post Vlogging And Driving: The Dangerous Youtuber Trend That’s Killing Teens first appeared on Kaleb Nation | Official Website - TV Personality, Author & Executive Producer.

This week I was a translator between CNN and the interwebs, explaining how chicken nuggets can go viral. Welcome to 2017.

There’s a new type of celebrity in town and they’re famous for not being famous. We’ve been inundated with Photoshopped perfection and publicist-approved statements so much that we’ve stopped trusting everything we see. Does Kim Kardashian actually like the flavor of that coconut water or was she paid $500,000 to take a selfie with a plastic bottle and post some pre-approved text? Did that photo of the Labrador delivering pizza to the homeless go viral because it was wholesomely cute or because he’s holding a box with a prominent Dominos logo and a marketing department pushed it to the top of Imgur with bots? As they say on Reddit… /r/HailCorporate!

Sponsor? What sponsor? I see only a cute puppy.

The old way of celebrity promotion doesn’t work anymore. When brands first started to experiment with online influencer marketing, numbers ruled everything: the people with the most followers got the biggest deals. Brands are starting to figure out that the quality of a star’s fans means more than the quantity of their fans. If a company pays $100,000 to sponsor a post from a TV celebrity with 1,000,000 followers, it usually doesn’t bring as much return on investment as it would if they paid $10,000 to 10 Youtube channels with 100,000 fans each.

Micro InfluencerAn online personality who reaches between 30,000 and 150,000 followers.“We see micro-influencers get an average of two-to-five times more organic engagement per Instagram post, compared to those with more than 100,000 followers.”– Chris Gonzalez, CEO of Gnack, on Digiday.com

A celebrity with a million fans is a professional business with lots of other sponsors, while a personality with 100,000 fans is the leader of a dedicated niche who is excited that a brand likes them enough to help pay their bills (something their fans will definitely recognize).

Brands will always need big channels and celebrities to grow awareness but they need micro-influencers to grow a following. Smart brands are realizing how important it is to find genuine, authentic personalities whose love can’t be bought.

Internet users have gotten smarter and can smell insincerity right away. Celebrities don’t drive as many clicks as before because their followers see a dozen #spon posts a month and have realized that many celebs will promote anything for money without actually verifying its reliability (see: #FyreFestival). This is why people such as the #NuggsForCarter guy and Alex From Target are a brand’s viral marketing dream. There’s nothing more authentic than a random, unpaid, non-famous person going viral because they declared their love for your products.

Taco Bell was really at the forefront of finding authentic voices to boost their online image. On the Internet, Taco Bell puts relationships first, business second. Years ago, I randomly started tweeting funny things to @TacoBell to see their snarky replies. They didn’t need to pay me anything: I love Taco Bell, their tweets are hilarious, and anytime they’d reply to me I’d get a bunch of new followers.

I AM CRYING TEARS OF HOLIDAY JOY.

IT IS A @TACOBELL CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. pic.twitter.com/pKFBPV1tKG

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) December 19, 2014

As time went on, our relationship deepened — just as naturally as an offline, IRL friendship – with an invite to Friendsgiving at Taco Bell headquarters, house parties, and even a trip to New York for the MTV VMAs. They sent a DM encouraging me to audition for their TV commercial (I got a small part and bought an engagement ring with the money). They flew me to Florida to speak at their franchisee convention and put me and my wife up in the same hotel where we first met. In June, they’re bringing us to Vegas to host a livestream of the first wedding in their new Taco Bell Chapel.

I think they like us.

It’s worth noting that Taco Bell doesn’t know I’m writing this or that I’d mention them on CNN. I think that’s the key. I’d promote Taco Bell even if they never paid me because we’re Internet friends. We do nice things for each other and it all evens out in the end.

Right now, the online influencer community is reeling from an #Adpocalypse as analysts predict nearly $750m in ad buys were pulled from YouTube after brands found their ads running against upsetting and offensive content. Setting aside questions about the validity of their concerns and Google’s response, it is obviously no longer viable to simply be a “YouTuber” and expect your bills to get paid.

I felt this coming back in 2010. Years ago, when I was a full time YouTuber filming 5 days a week, it became a struggle to keep my content clean when I was desperate for views to pay my rent and watched many others getting massive exposure for being provocative and offensive. I can understand the struggle of an emerging YouTuber stuck in the loop of needing money to make videos to get views to pay their rent so they can keep making videos and getting views. I posted my share of MyLikes links back when I needed surgery and didn’t have insurance. But anytime I considered reinventing my videos with a fabricated, edgier persona, I thought about my little group who followed me specifically because I was a break from the Internet’s norm. Apparently they wanted positivity and clean humor mixed with wackiness and gnomes. They just wanted me to be me.

Staying PG slowed the growth of my channel back then but it’s paid off over time. Because all 700+ of my 10 years of videos are family-friendly, none of my old videos lost their advertisers in the #Adpocalypse. Not one. In fact, even though I’ve been on a YouTube break for a while, I still landed my biggest brand deal a few months ago.

Every creator’s career can’t be gauged on my choices. It goes both ways. I haven’t succeeded because I create things that tend to be PG — it’s because everything I make is authentically mine, and my voice just happens to be PG. If Stephen King published a children’s Bible coloring book because Christians buy a ton of books, it’d feel phony since that’s not the King we know (though I admit this is a terrible example because I’d still preorder it).

Or should it be called “Prey”?

The Internet needs provocateurs and outspoken voices to start controversial discussions that big brands may not want to be a part of. But for every big brand that wants to play it safe for middle America, there are a hundred smaller brands who want to reach people outside of the mainstream demographic. If you want to vlog about the genetic history of North American pelicans, enjoy those inoffensive Adsense checks. But if McDonald’s doesn’t want to advertise on your channel about sex tips… don’t worry, you’ll still sell 300,000 copies of your sex-ed book to the dedicated fans you’ve made just by saying what you want the world to hear. Relationships first, business second.

That’s the real secret to being a successful influencer. Don’t chase the money. Be honest. Be genuine. Be yourself. Fans and brands will find you on their own.

Any major young-adult brand that isn’t following in the footsteps of Taco Bell and Wendy’s will fade into Internet obscurity. Anyone who still doubts the influence of social media marketing should take a look at what #NuggsForCarter did for Wendy’s stock.

The last time Wendy’s stock was this high was in 2007. That’s the same year I started my YouTube channel. Back then, a lot of people told me I should “get a real job.”

Nobody tells me that anymore.

The post How Chicken Nuggets Go Viral: The Rise Of The Micro-Influencer first appeared on Kaleb Nation | Official Website - TV Personality, Author & Executive Producer.

If you have big goals but you’re going through hard times, you’re not alone. I was 20 and had everything I’d dreamed of. 4 book deals. A fancy car. Living in LA. Two years later, I lost everything but $23. Here are 5 things I learned from losing everything and what I did to get it all back.

The post 5 Things I Learned From Losing Everything first appeared on Kaleb Nation | Official Website - TV Personality, Author & Executive Producer.

I surprised my girl Taylor with Taylor Swift tickets. Her reaction was priceless.

I surprised my girl bfftaylor with Taylor Swift tickets. Her reaction was priceless.

Posted by Kaleb Nation on Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Surprised my girl @bfftaylor with @taylorswift13 tickets.

Girls love surprise Taylor Swift tickets. pic.twitter.com/zG0SEI9TTV

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) August 26, 2015

OMG KALEB JUST SURPRISED ME WITH TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS FOR TONIGHT

— bff Taylor Elizabeth (@bfftaylor) August 26, 2015

SHAKE IT OFF @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/sv3Hkh3PpX

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) August 26, 2015

The post How To Surprise A Girl With Taylor Swift Tickets appeared first on Kaleb Nation | Official Website.

The new teaser for Netflix and Lemony Snicket’s “A Series Of Unfortunate Events” is the most important 36 seconds of your day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xer4VCa5-tg

A detailed timeline of my reaction to this video:

“Anyone who knew Violet well could tell she was thinking hard, because her long hair was tied up in a ribbon." pic.twitter.com/27GFAN542F

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) July 5, 2015

GOTHIC ARCHIES. pic.twitter.com/LR11kXvysg

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) July 5, 2015

I've already watched the Lemony Snicket Netflix teaser 10 times. Study the LITTLE DETAILS. https://t.co/agYANyFep7 pic.twitter.com/WakJYhLfHo

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) July 5, 2015

"…the 'Lucky Smells Lumbermill' sign was the most disgusting sign on earth.” – Lemony Snicket https://t.co/gQWsxwQCd2 pic.twitter.com/p6KR7z2m0Q

— Kaleb Nation (@KalebNation) July 5, 2015

The post Lemony Snicket Netflix Teaser Trailer! appeared first on Kaleb Nation | Official Website.

They bumped our mini-interview on Good Morning America a day earlier!

That's me and bfftaylor on Good Morning America! Thanks YouTube for helping me meet the love of my life :)

Posted by Kaleb Nation on Monday, June 22, 2015

Thanks to TheWayWeMet for thinking of us for the show. And thanks YouTube for helping me meet the love of my life.

The post Good Morning America! appeared first on Kaleb Nation | Official Website.

Long story short, Taylor and I will be on Good Morning America this Tuesday June 23! They interviewed us as part of a feature on an awesome new Instagram account called TheWayWeMet. To hear our story, make sure you watch GMA this week!

The post Watch Us On Good Morning America! appeared first on Kaleb Nation | Official Website.