<p>Have you ever tried to build a new habit? Ever find yourself reaching for your phone even when it’s not in your pocket? Ever thought about whether free will actually exists? Yeah, that last one got deep, but that’s just how we roll here at&nbsp;<em>This Was A Thing.</em>&nbsp;Because this week, we’re talking all about a man who devoted his life to studying whether or not humans have a say in how they behave. His conclusion? We’re all pretty much rats pressing levers.&nbsp;</p><p>Daniel teaches Ray and Rob about B.F. Skinner, the psychologist, writer, and inventor whose ideas about free will and shaping behaviors made him famous and infamous; how Skinner bucked the trend of Pavlov and Freud to try to take a quantitative and objective approach to sudying human behavior; Skinner’s belief that pigeons could be the next big thing in missile technology; why Skinner’s book&nbsp;<em>Beyond Freedom and Dignity</em>&nbsp;earned him a spot on Noam Chomsky’s sh*&amp; list; the real origin story of Splinter from TMNT; and how B.F. Skinner continues to influence everything from modern psychology to teaching technologies.</p><p>If you like what we’re doing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/thiswasathing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">please support us on Patreon</a>, or you can&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-was-a-thing-the-retro-podcast/id1577054693" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts</a>. And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have time,&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-was-a-thing-the-retro-podcast/id1577054693" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/78G1stm560J7fDZiBbKHSE?si=d5fd534e7c784ddc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you have any other thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you -&nbsp;<a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">feel free to email us</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thiswasathingpod/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">send us a message on social media</a>.&nbsp;</p><h3>TEAM</h3><p><a href="https://twitter.com/totesray?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ray Hebel</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/robwschneider/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robert W. Schneider</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mark_schroeder/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark Schroeder</a></p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/thebillyrecce/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billy Recce</a></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-schwartzberg-257334164/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daniel Schwartzberg</a></p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/34399519@N08/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Natalie DeSavia</a></p><h3>ARTICLES, BOOKS, AND ADDITIONAL LINKS</h3><p><a href="https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,829926,00.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Preschoolers: Box-Bred Babies - TIME</a></p><p><a href="https://www.aubreydaniels.com/sites/default/files/pdf/skinner_baby_in_a_box-Ladies-Home-Journal.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BABY IN A BOX (Article by BF Skinner)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.aubreydaniels.com/sites/default/files/pdf/1st_baby_tender_bfs.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The First Baby Tender</a></p><p><a href="https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/skinner-air-crib" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Skinner Air Crib” Article by Nick Joyce and Cathy Faye</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/mar/12/highereducation.uk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">I was not a lab rat | Deborah Skinner Buzan | The Guardian</a></p><p><a href="https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/b-f-skinner" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B. F. Skinner | Department of Psychology</a></p><p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bhskin.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: B.F. Skinner</a></p><p><a href="https://www.mountauburn.org/b-f-skinner-1904-1990/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) | Mount Auburn Cemetery</a></p><p><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/b-f-skinner-biography-1904-1990-2795543" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B. F. Skinner: Biography of the Influential Behaviorist</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6o-uPJarA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Skinner’s Operant Conditioning: Rewards &amp; Punishments</a></p><p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/B-F-Skinner" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B.F. Skinner | Biography, Facts, &amp; Contributions | Britannica</a></p><p><a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/mar04/skinner" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">100 years of B.F. Skinner</a></p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/bf-skinner-the-man-who-taught-pigeons-to-play-ping-pong-and-rats-to-pull-levers-5363946/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B.F. Skinner: The Man Who Taught Pigeons to Play Ping-Pong and Rats to Pull Levers | Science| Smithsonian Magazine</a></p><p><a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html#Schedules-of-Reinforcement" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Operant Conditioning In Psychology: B.F. Skinner Theory</a></p><p><a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-a-skinner-box.html#The-Skinner-Box-in-Research" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Skinner Box: What Is an Operant Conditioning Chamber?</a></p><p><a href="https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Classics in the History of Psychology – Skinner (1948)</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://anniegrossman.com/2018/08/podcast/podcast-episode-21-bf-skinners-daughter-deborah-buzan-dispels-myths/9722/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Episode 21: Being BF Skinner’s Daughter: Deborah Buzan Dispels The Myths - Annie Grossman, Dog Trainer</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00ESB1C8Q" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch B.F. Skinner: A Fresh Appraisal | Prime Video</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Project Pigeon - Wikipedia</a></p><h3>EPISODE CLIPS</h3><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqgVB6Vl-lI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jim’s Best Pranks Against Dwight - The Office US</a></p><p><a href="https://ia903401.us.archive.org/34/items/bf-skinner-an-interview-with-bf-skinner-1972/BF%20Skinner%20-%20An%20Interview%20with%20BF%20Skinner%20-%201972.mp3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">An Interview with BF Skinner, 1971</a></p><p><a href="https://www.davidsonfilms.com/products/b-f-skinner-a-fresh-appraisal-with-murray-sidman-ph-d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B. F. Skinner: A Fresh Appraisal With Murray Sidman, Ph.D.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGazyH6fQQ4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BF Skinner Foundation - Pigeon Ping Pong Clip</a></p><h3>ADDITIONAL MUSIC &amp; SOUND EFFECTS</h3><p>“This Was A Thing” Theme Songs composed by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thebillyrecce/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Billy Recce</a></p><p>“Happy Bee” and “Big Rock” • Kevin MacLeod (<a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">incompetech.com</a>)</p><p>• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0</p><p>•&nbsp;<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a></p><p>Additional Sound Effects from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/FinalCutPro.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Final Cut Pro</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iLife11.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">iLife</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/LogicPro.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Logic Pro</a></p>