Cody Reeder
{{Short description|American educator, scientist, mechanic and YouTube personality}}
{{Infobox YouTube personality
| name = Cody Reeder
| logo =
| logo_caption =
| image =
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| birth_name =
| birth_place = Utah, United States
| occupation = {{Hlist|YouTube personality|mechanic}}
| website =
| pseudonym =
| channel_handle = theCodyReeder
| channel_display_name = Cody'sLab
| years_active = 2011–present
| genre = {{Hlist|Science|educational|vlog}}
| subscribers = 2.21 million
| views = 371.3 million
| silver_year = 2015
| gold_year = 2017
| stats_update = 15 March 2025
}}
Cody Reeder is an American educator, amateur scientist, mechanic and YouTube personality. He runs the popular YouTube channel Cody'sLab.{{cite news
|last1=Kooser |first1=Amanda |title=Can you stand on liquid mercury? Watch a scientist try |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/mercury-stand-float-codys-lab-video-liquid/ |access-date=24 January 2021 |publisher=CNET|date=10 Nov 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Medrano |first1=Kastalia |title=What Was the 'Inappropriate Content' That Got Cody Reeder Kicked Off YouTube? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/what-was-inappropiate-content-got-cody-reeder-kicked-youtube-703289 |access-date=21 January 2021 |work=Newsweek |date=6 November 2017}}{{cite web |last1=Gutelle |first1=Sam |title=Popular YouTube Science Channel Cody's Lab Struggles Under The Weight Of Multiple Content Strikes |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2017/11/06/codys-lab-content-strike/ |publisher=TubeFilter |access-date=21 January 2021 |date=6 Nov 2017}}
Life
Reeder was born and raised near Grantsville, Utah,{{cite web |title=USU's Mars Star: Undergrad Among 100 Finalists for Red Planet Mission |url=https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-mars-star-undergrad-among-100-finalists-for-red-planet-mission |publisher=Utah State University |access-date=21 January 2021 |date=26 Feb 2015}} on "an off grid ranch in the west desert".{{cite web |title=CODY |url=https://community.mars-one.com/profile/305308f6-483c-4612-8e64-549edf5de34d |publisher=Mars One |access-date=21 January 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128021443/https://community.mars-one.com/profile/305308f6-483c-4612-8e64-549edf5de34d |url-status=bot: unknown }}{{cite news |last1=Knox |first1=Annie |title=Utah student makes 'Mars 100' cut|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2189260&itype=CMSID |access-date=24 January 2021 |publisher=Salt Lake City Tribune |date=18 February 2015 |format=archived}}
He has worked as a mechanic, and studied geology at Westminster College and Utah State University, but was later academically suspended due to a low GPA.{{Cite web |last=Reeder |first=Cody |date=3 June 2016 |title=The Project That Caused Me To Flunk Out Of College |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvfVn8_dM4U |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=Cody'sLab |publisher=Youtube}}{{Cite web |date=22 February 2020 |title=Cody's qualifications? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/codyslab/comments/f5531p/comment/fig0o69/?context=3 |website=CodyDon |publisher=Reddit}}
Experiments
Having joined YouTube in 2011, Reeder initially began posting videos of his experiments to show to his grandmother: "I would do science experiments all the time anyway ... Then other people started watching them", he explained in a 2017 interview.{{cite news |last1=Brooks |first1=David |title=Urine, bees, explosions: Science can be a lot of fun on YouTube |url=https://www.concordmonitor.com/Cody-Don-Reeder-talk-St-Pauls-8867260 |access-date=24 January 2021 |publisher=Concord Monitor |date=27 March 2017}}
His channel Cody'sLab reached 100,000 subscribers in October 2015. Having not received his silver play button six months later, Reeder celebrated reaching 250,000 subscribers by forging a homemade play button out of genuine silver.{{cite web |title=Making My Own Play Button For 250K Subscribers |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkOzaTtdweM |website=Cody'sLab |publisher=YouTube |access-date=21 January 2021 |date=11 May 2016}} He reached 1,000,000 subscribers in early 2017.{{cite web |title=Cesium Play Button For 1,000,000 Subscribers! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuEj5EhqcsQ |website=Cody'sLab |publisher=YouTube |access-date=21 January 2021 |date=11 March 2017}}
Reeder first gained considerable media attention in 2016, after posting a video of himself drinking water containing a small, diluted amount of cyanide. The purpose was to prove how the dosage defines toxicity.{{cite news |last1=Limer |first1=Eric |title=Mad Scientist Drinks Cyanide on Camera |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a23416/mad-scientist-drinks-cyanide-on-camera/ |access-date=21 January 2021 |publisher=Popular Mechanics |date=17 October 2016}} While emphasizing that the amount he consumed (17 mg) was considerably smaller than any lethal dose, Reeder said he did experience certain symptoms of the toxin such as rapid breathing. This video, among others, has since been removed from his channel. Similar experiments however, such as him drinking heavy water, "hydric acid" (tongue-in-cheek), and breathing in all the noble gases, remain available {{as of|2021|1|lc=y|post=.}}
In 2017, his channel was suspended for two weeks, following received strikes. The reason was suspected to be a video on the science behind how small insects (Reeder used fruit flies, of unspecified species) can survive being microwaved, while larger ones cannot. Preceding the suspension, an increase in flagged videos and concern that his account may be deactivated, prompted Reeder to create a back-up channel.{{cite web |title=Backup Channel Explanation |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXT5T9MH7cI |website=Cody'SBLab |publisher=YouTube |access-date=21 January 2021 |date=6 November 2017}} An article on TubeFilter blamed "overzealous viewers" for generating the automatic strikes, writing that Reeder's channel is both "wholesome and family-friendly", and commenting on how YouTube's strike system also affects those "who stay well within the bounds of acceptable content".
In a 2019 video explaining a period of channel inactivity, Reeder mentioned how some of his videos, although intended to be used for educational purposes, had been flagged by YouTube, showing a warning he received for a video on making gunpowder from urine. In the same video, Reeder explained how he also had been visited by United States government agents, after publishing several videos on isotope isolation and nuclear radiation. The agents, equipped with geiger counters, did not find anything of concern, and Reeder himself said that they were only trying to help him not get in trouble in the future.{{cite web |title=What's Been Going On With Cody'sLab? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1mv0vwb08Y |website=Cody'sLab |publisher=YouTube |date=22 May 2019|access-date=21 January 2021}}
He has also received media attention after becoming one of the 100 finalists of the defunct Mars One Mars colonization program, having been selected from over 200,000 applicants.
References
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Category:American Internet celebrities
Category:Educational and science YouTubers
Category:Education-related YouTube channels
Category:People from Grantsville, Utah
Category:American YouTube vloggers
Category:Westminster University (Utah) alumni