Safety Third is a weekly podcast hosted by William Osman
, Kevin Kohler (The Backyard Scientist), Allen Pan, Nigel Braun (NileRed), and other recurring hosts/guests from the maker community , such as William's former roommate Michael Reeves, or Alex Apollonov (I did a thing).
Ostensibly a science podcast, the conversation inevitably goes off the rails and covers various topics ranging from gambling exploits to high school dating mishaps. The podcast updates every Thursday, with video episodes uploaded to the Safety Third YouTube channel and highlights posted on the highlights channel.
This podcast provides examples of:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In "The Biggest Mouth," Kevin describes his occult-looking chair as such:
- Little Brother Is Watching: Discussed by Jabril in "We're Being Manipulated", where he notes how the "Race Wars" between black and Latino students at his high school were most likely caused by gang violence and racial tensions spilling over to impressionable kids.
- Off the Rails: At least Once per Episode, whenever one of the hosts goes off on a tangent about something non-science related. Some episodes even start off the rails, with one host usually remarking how they used to be a science podcast.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: In "Trying Not To Die", Kevin recalls how he once did this when he got visited by the FBI.Kevin: Why are you here, the exploding bullet video?
FBI agent: The what? - Running Gag:
- Kevin has rabies.
- Nigel is more dangerous than he lets on.
- Sound-Effect Bleep: At some point, the podcast started using a sound bite of Allen saying "Ahhh~!" in a questionable tone to censor private information that comes up in discussion.
- Stylistic Suck: A major part of the show's charm, which is considerably more relaxed and informal than other podcasts. The online episodes are occasionally interrupted by Discord pings and technical difficulties (such as Kevin forgetting to hit record on his camera for the entirety of "NileRed's Milk Problem"), while the in-person episodes recorded prior to the construction of the studio took place in various settings, from the gang's hotel room to an abandoned mine, with the hosts having to hold their own microphones and sometimes getting up and leaving in the middle of the show. The studio itself was made to look like the inside of a dumpster, "decorated" with trash the guys leave behind over time. And they still have to hold their own microphones.
- Unreliable Narrator: Allen, at the expense of poor Nigel, who is made out to be a perverted, bullying menace in Allen's retellings of events.(Referring to the time they hotwired a street legal golf cart)
Nigel: I wanna be clear that I was not part of this.
Allen: Nigel was the mastermind. He's the one who made us do it.
Will: We rented a house, and it was included with the house, and they just forgot to leave us the key.
Allen: Yeah, and I didn't wanna do it, but Nigel, he kept - he kept hitting me and going, "Do it, pussy!" and I was like, "Oh! Nigel, please don't make me do it!"
