This Was A Thing: The Retro Podcast

Most people would probably say “Yes” immediately if someone agreed to pay them a million dollars for spending time on an island. But what if you had to undergo challenges like eating beetle larvae, and be judged by a jury of your peers in order to get the money? Oh, also, finding a place to poop is not fun. That may not sound like your ideal vacation, but to the first-season contestants on Survivor, that was their reality for the 39-day duration of the show. And to the millions of people who were glued to the screen, they witnessed a seminal moment of television that helped define a genre and has continued to this day.

Ray teaches Rob about the first season of Survivor and how its creators and producers, Charlie Parsons and Mark Burnett, made their dream reality show an actual reality; why psychologists are essential to the casting of the show; Ray’s deep love for Mr. Jeff Probst, the show’s legendary host; moments of the first season that have become part of Survivor canon; the strong personalities that made up the show’s original sixteen-person cast; and how Survivor has innovated on its formula since the first season.

If you like what we’re doing, please support us on Patreon, or you can subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts. And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have time, please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 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 - feel free to email us or send us a message on social media.

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

Sue’s Famous Rat and Snake speech

Survivor Borneo Rudy Likes Rich Not in a Homosexual way

Survivor Borneo in 19 Minutes!

Survivor 1 Borneo Opening Credits High Quality

“Happy...

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 This Was A Thing. 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.

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 Beyond Freedom and Dignity earned him a spot on Noam Chomsky’s sh*& list; the real origin story of Splinter from TMNT; and how B.F. Skinner continues to influence everything from modern psychology to teaching technologies.

If you like what we’re doing, please support us on Patreon, or you can subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts. And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have time, please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 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 - feel free to email us or send us a message on social media.

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Natalie DeSavia

Preschoolers: Box-Bred Babies - TIME

BABY IN A BOX (Article by BF Skinner)

The First Baby Tender

“Skinner Air Crib” Article by Nick Joyce and Cathy Faye

I was not a lab rat | Deborah...

If you’ve ever ordered at a chain restaurant, then you know the homey feeling of knowing you’re about to eat the exact same meal as you could get at any other location. And even though the Golden Arches or a pair of red braids and freckles are some of the most recognizable franchise mascots today, if we flashback to the mid-1900s, then Simple Simon and the Pieman would’ve been just as recognizable as those other icons. Why? Because if you wanted a tasty clam belly, a delicious sundae, or to snag a couple of ZZZs, then there was one only one chain that fit the bill.

Rob teaches Ray about how the eponymous Mr. Johnson went from owning one small Massachusetts eatery, to running a national network of restaurants and lodges; why we can thank Eugene O’Neill for HoJo’s original boost in popularity; Jacques Pepin’s contribution to the franchise’s legacy; some unexpected controversies at HoJo’s; and how, even after the HoJo’s brand sank into obscurity, it still has a physical and cultural impact in today’s world.

If you like what we are doing, please support us on Patreon.

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

Howard Johnson’s Commercial 1962

Chef Jacques Pépin on working at Howard Johnson’s and his experiences on the American food scene

HOWARD JOHNSON RESTURANT

1970 Howard Johnson’s Animated Commercial #2

Howard Johnson Restaurants This Is Howard Johnson Today 1988 TV Commercial HD

“Happy Bee” and “Happy Boy End Theme”

• Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Sound Effects from Final Cut Pro, iLife, and Logic Pro