What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Dave Bledsoe
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Comedy
  • Updated Weekly

All the things that made the world the way it is now.   Welcome to the podcast takes your nostalgia, tells you the history behind it and makes you ask What the HELL Were You Thinking. Host Dave Bledsoe takes the history, politics and pop culture of the past fifty years and explains what it was like to live through it and why it is still ruining the world today. So join Dave, his hapless Producer Gavin St James every Monday for time capsule of truth! Find us at whatthehellpodcast.com, @whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social and the show name on Facebook. 

  1. 4d ago

    By The Time We Left From Woodstock

    Episode 531: By The Time We Left From Woodstock This week host Dave Bledsoe got wasted at a concert and was thrown out for aggressive moshing in front of the stage and is now banned from seeing The Wiggles ever again. (He claims it was totally worth it) On the show this week we head back to 1969 for the Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music that turned into three days of mud, sex and kick ass music.  We talk about Woodstock! Along the way we learn that Dave went to Lillith Fair looking to score. Then we dive into the origins of the music festival. (Three guys tripping balls on fungus and banging rocks together) and trace its evolution through history.  Then we meet the men who had a dream, a small record studio in a bucolic upstate town, that turned into half a million hippies f*****g in mud on a cow farm.  (So many yeast infections) From the famous names that did perform to the famous names that DIDN’T perform, to the massive traffic jam and who could forget the Hog Farmer Peace Patrol! (This is not a euphemism) Our Sponsor this week is The Brown Acid, who wants you to know it is perfectly safe to take The Brown Acid.  We open the show with Cronkite shaking his head at the hippies and close with Kingsblade who just wants to get these hippies out of his garden. Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/8zFjCavR_kA?si=dU2Lpb0f6T0NgAq- Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Britannica: music festival https://www.britannica.com/art/music-festival A Century Of Sound: Tracing The Evolution Of American Music Festivals https://www.jambase.com/article/history-of-american-music-festivals How Woodstock Happened: The Full Story https://www.woodstockstory.com/articles/how-woodstock-happened Wikipedia: Max Yasgur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Yasgur Acts that almost made it to Woodstock https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/acts-that-almost-made-it-to-woodstock/ Woodstock: The Myth vs the Reality https://bestclassicbands.com/woodstock-myth-8-13-15/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. Aug 3

    Episode 530: Charles Isn't In Charge Anymore

    Show Notes Episode 530: Charles Isn’t In Charge Anymore This week Host Dave Bledsoe finally mans up to get a tattoo of the most important thing in his life (a bottle of Irish Whiskey) only to chicken out when he saw the needle. (The tattoo artist said he cried like a little girl and wet himself.) On the show this week we FINALLY finish the Manson series with what happened after the trials were over.  (More crimes and a LOT of denied paroles.) Along the way we discover that Dave’s friends were somehow WORSE than he was. Then we dive right into why Charlie didn’t ride the lightning like he was supposed to. (The Supreme Court used to not be evil.) Then follow Charlie’s many adventures in front of the parole board and his search for love. We catch up with Squeaky Fromme as she tries to keep busy with Charles in charge of her days and her nights.  Finally, we learn about what happens when drugged out morons try to plan things.  (They go very badly.) Our Sponsor this week is Regrets Laser Tattoo Removal, Regrets when you rather have one less to mention.  We open the show with Squeaky and the Pres and close with the Blanks talking about a new boy in the neighborhood. Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/HCWPoMH_fz4?si=dGdK7E944mEALoS9 Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Wikipedia: Furman v Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia CHARLES MANSON PAROLE HEARINGS https://serialkillercalendar.com/CHARLES-MANSON-PAROLE-HEARINGS.php ‘I am Charles Manson’s wife’ https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/09/justice/charles-manson-wife Charles Manson’s fiancée wanted to marry him for his corpse: source https://nypost.com/2015/02/08/charles-mansons-fiancee-wanted-to-marry-him-for-his-corpse-source/ 4 bizarre moments from our interview with Charles Manson https://www.kcra.com/article/4-bizarre-moments-from-our-interview-with-charles-manson/13813357 Power, Mystery And The Hammer Of The Gods https://web.archive.org/web/20080128165609/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ledzeppelin/articles/story/17537975/power_mystery_and_the_hammer_of_the_gods Wikipedia: Attempted assassination of Gerald Ford in Sacramento https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Gerald_Ford_in_Sacramento Two former Manson followers discuss how cult family, 1969 murders changed their lives https://youtu.be/UHCeX27buug?si=5OcRqU31AFek1Wx2 5 Hawthorne Shootout Suspects Identified as Manson Followers https://www.cielodrive.com/archive/5-hawthorne-shootout-suspects-identified-as-manson-followers/ 'How crazy thinks': Understanding our strange fascination with Charles Manson https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/understanding-our-strange-fascination-with-charles-manson/9177328 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. Jul 20

    Bugliosi's Big Break

    Show Notes Episode 529: Bugliosi’s Big Break This week Host Dave Bledsoe found himself needing legal representation when he was served with a lawsuit over something he is certain he did NOT do! (He DID do them, he was just black out drunk at the time.) On the show this week we talk about the wild trial of Manson and the Family and ask if maybe Charlie was innocent? (He definitely wasn’t) Along the way we learn that Dave once imagined he could be a lawyer until he found out how much work it takes.  Then we meet Vincent Bugliosi, a hard charging Los Angeles lawyer with a dream to be much more. (A very rich, very famous writer) We examine the spurious connection between the Manson Family and Andy Griffith. We dive into the trial to learn both sides “theory of the case”. (Both revolved around Charlie) Finally, we ask the question no one wants to answer, was Charles Manson wrongfully convicted. (Yes and no.) Our Sponsor this week is Prosecution Solutions, every court trial is a story and a story needs good writers.  We open with news coverage of the Manson trial and close with Dave Frishberg who really likes his lawyer.  Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/0lyhjzn-Qdo?si=JfzLg8SUc5WaPRqv Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Former Milkman’s Complaint Adds to DA Race Confusion https://www.cielodrive.com/archive/former-milkmans-complaint-adds-to-da-race-confusion/ The Charles Manson (Tate-LaBianca Murder) Trial https://famous-trials.com/manson/243-home The Law: Manson's Shattered Defense https://time.com/archive/6838369/the-law-mansons-shattered-defense/ EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: THE WRONGFUL CONVICTION OF CHARLES MILLES MANSON https://www.swlaw.edu/sites/default/files/2017-04/2%20Eye%20of%20the%20Beholder.pdf Manson Murders Showed Dark Side of Hippie Generation https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/manson-murders-showed-dark-side-of-hippie-generation/1858706/ Charles Manson: How the notorious cult leader brought an abrupt end to the 60s https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-20/charles-manson-the-man-who-killed-the-60s/9172088 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. Jul 6

    Healter Skelter

    Show Notes Episode 528: “Healter Skelter!” This week Host Dave Bledsoe was trespassed from a children’s playground (again) for screaming at a four year old “When you get to the bottom, YOU GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THE SLIDE!!!!” (Made her cry, then angry parents made him cry.) On the show this week we get to the gory parts of the story as we cover the actual murders the Manson Family did. Along the way we discover that Dave wasn’t a very good cop. (He almost never violated people’s civil rights!) Then we return to Spahn Ranch where the Manson family was in trouble: drugs cost money in Death Valley.  We learn a little about the members of the Family closest to Charlie and about Charlie’s Plan for the coming Race War. (It was a little vague) We follow along as the Family meets famous people and people not famous at all really, then murders them. Finally Dave gets around to explaining why he keeps talking about Dune Buggies. Our Sponsor this week is Death Valley Cave Tours, don’t start the Race War without them. We open the show with ABC news covering the Manson trial and close with the Hen House Prowler and their playground etiquette tips. Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/UF9Wulle1lI?si=zFeNt_nU6Y81CJOf Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed:  Wikipedia: Tex Watson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Watson Wikipedia: Helter Skelter Scenario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(scenario) Why Did the Manson Family Kill Sharon Tate? Here’s the Story Charles Manson Told the Last Man Who Interviewed Him https://web.archive.org/web/20200924061655/https://time.com/5633973/last-manson-interview/ Charles Manson's Evil Plans Involved A Crazy Dune Buggy Battalion https://www.jalopnik.com/charles-mansons-evil-plans-involved-a-crazy-dune-buggy-485497751/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. Jun 29 ·  Bonus

    The Spirit of 76

    Show Note Special Presentation: Spirit of ‘76 This week Host Dave Bledsoe is celebrating 250 years of America by dressing as Uncle Sam and getting piss drunk at a cookout. (It is tradition) On the show this week, we drop in this Special Presentation about the last Big Birthday Blast America put on back in 1976! From Tall Ships to Winnebagos, from fire hydrants to twenty five cents worth of history we explore all the way America celebrated 200 years!  Our Sponsor is Numismatics who wants you to check your swear jar before you dump them in Coinstar.  We open with ABC coverage of America’s Big Day and close with John Williams and the Boston Pops. Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/7t2LGv-iR1Y?si=nHXxCEBfCvxoUBea Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Your Bicentennial Memories Are Here: The Year of an Unusual Public Art Project https://bicentennialmemoryproject.substack.com/p/1976-bicentennial-fire-hydrants Bicentennial Wagon Train https://www.kophistory.org/bicentennial-wagon-train/ MARKETING: Bucks From The Bicentennial https://time.com/archive/6847235/marketing-bucks-from-the-bicentennial/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. Jun 15

    When You're Here, You're Family

    Show Notes Episode 527: When You’re Here, You’re Family This week Host Dave Bledsoe was kicked out of Sunrise of Mountain Lakes in Parsippany New Jersey for recruiting the old ladies to join his “Hippie Sex Cult”. (Again) On the show this week introduce the man mostly responsible for destroying the feel good vibe of the 1960s: Charles Manson. Along the way we discover Dave’s crippling fear of commitment is rooted in reality.  Then we dive right into the backstory of No Name Maddox. (You know him better as “Charlie”) We meet his incredibly bad mother, follow Charlie in and out of “reform” schools that seemed not about “reforming” kids at all. We chill with Charlie’s mentors in prison, from Danny Trejo to “Creepy” Karpus.   From there we walk the streets of Haight Ashbury with Charlie as he quickly realized this Summer of Love thing will work for him! Then we head to Hollywood for the frankly astonishing story of how a tiny career criminal mixed and mingled with the glitteratti of Tinsel Town. (He knew Grandpa Munster!) Finally, we see how Charlie didn’t become a rock star so he became the leader of a murder cult. Our Sponsor this week is Spahn Movie Ranch Family Fun Tours, fun for ALL kinds of families.  We open with CBS news reporting local crime and close with the Constellations, who are family. Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/E3TM-sbqITk?si=jjiZ2vM2vSxkolD0 Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Charles Manson – Hoosier Juvenile Delinquent https://weeklyview.net/2015/01/22/charles-manson-hoosier-juvenile-delinquent/ Danny Trejo Says Charles Manson Once Hypnotized Him in Jail https://www.mediaite.com/media/entertainment/danny-trejo-says-charles-manson-once-hypnotized-him-in-jail/ How Did Charles Manson’s Early Years In Prison Shape Him? https://www.oxygen.com/manson-the-women/crime-time/how-charles-manson-prison-time-shaped-mcneil-island Charles Manson was not an artist worth indulging https://theoutline.com/post/2510/charles-manson-was-not-an-artist-worth-indulging Pimpology: The 48 Rules of the Game https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pimpology/bC07OG_8KcAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover Wikipedia: The Manson Family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manson_Family#Confirmed_members_and_associates Doris Day’s son Terry Melcher was ‘very paranoid’ after Manson murders, pal reveals in book https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/doris-day-terry-melcher-charles-manson-bill-cassara-book You Must Remember This Season 4: Charles Manson Hollywood https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-must-remember-this/id858124601 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    When You're Here, You're Family

  7. Jun 1

    Going Through the Big D

    Show Episode 526: Going Through the Big D This week Host Dave Bledsoe gets thrown out of a country bar after gravely misunderstanding what “Ho-Down” meant. (He pushed a woman off her barstool!!) On the show this week we follow JFK to Texas for the most important moment of his Presidency.  (What? Too soon?) Along the way we discover that Dave’s Dad had nothing to do with the Kennedy assassination! (Allegedly) Then we dive right into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, Marine, communist defector, and moron.  We examine the details of that fateful days in Texas. From Fort Worth calls girls to near fistfights with the medical examiner in Dallas. Then we look at the genuinely weird things that happened after JFK’s death before moving on to all the “theories” surrounding those weird things.  Finally, we look into the most plausible explanation for why the theories got started in the first place.   Our sponsor this week is the Former Dallas County Administration Building, we never let our worst moment define us. We open with Walter Cronkite who has some bad news and close with Brett Monnier who is on a trip.  Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/waWJUCfKJeA?si=U46OMEwNY6FXWmp2 Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Wikipedia:  Lee Harvey Oswald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald#Early_life Why JFK Ignored His Warnings: Was Told to Avoid Dallas https://medium.com/@archie.hodge01/why-jfk-ignored-his-warnings-8c353b84fc80 Warren Commission Report Chapter 3 https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-3.html#near The botched autopsy of president John F. Kennedy https://hekint.org/2025/09/08/the-botched-autopsy-of-president-john-f-kennedy/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. May 18

    On Second Thought, Let's Not Go to Camelot

    Show Notes Episode 525: On Second Thought, Let’s Not Go to Camelot This week host Dave Bledsoe ruined a bar trivia night by drunkenly shouting “wasn’t in the form of a question” every time until they threw him out. (He doesn’t even watch Jeopardy.) On the show this week we talk about JFK’s time in office, from the political to the poonhound.  (Google recognized poonhound, that’s awesome.) Along the way we discover the reason why Dave can’t form meaningful relationships. (Perhaps his drinking problem?) Then we really do dive into JFK as a politician.  (There is a LOT to cover this week!) From the Bay of Pigs to the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the Vienna Summit we examine his foreign policy.  Domestically, we mostly talk about all the side pieces he had.  (Dude had a lot!) We learn that the whole “Camelot” thing was created after his death to hide how horny he was. Finally, we set the stage for Dallas.  (Which we will cover in detail next episode.) Our Sponsor is the Secret Services Professional Escorts, trusted by the people you trust with your life. We open with JFK’s inauguration and close with Nick Fife who reminds you it is only a model.  Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ The Show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthehellwereyouthinkingpod/ Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/kHmmrjptrq Our Website: https://www.whatthehellpodcast.com Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music:https://youtu.be/T5F8VKRPsyg?si=6i0BaV3msxBesAZw Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Washington; President Kennedy's Inaugural -- Speech or Policy? https://www.nytimes.com/1961/01/22/archives/washington-president-kennedys-inaugural-speech-or-policy.html JFK's Inaugural Speech: Great But Silent On Racial Woes https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2011/01/20/133083711/jfks-inaugural-speech-great-but-incomplete-on-race Report: The night prostitutes came to JFK's suite at Seattle's Olympic Hotel https://www.kiro7.com/news/report-the-night-prostitutes-came-to-jfks-suite-at-seattles-olympic-hotel/731448613/ How Jackie Kennedy Invented the Camelot Legend After JFK's Death https://manhattan.institute/article/how-jackie-kennedy-invented-the-camelot-legend-after-jfks-death Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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About

All the things that made the world the way it is now.   Welcome to the podcast takes your nostalgia, tells you the history behind it and makes you ask What the HELL Were You Thinking. Host Dave Bledsoe takes the history, politics and pop culture of the past fifty years and explains what it was like to live through it and why it is still ruining the world today. So join Dave, his hapless Producer Gavin St James every Monday for time capsule of truth! Find us at whatthehellpodcast.com, @whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social and the show name on Facebook. 

Information

  • Creator
    Dave Bledsoe
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    629
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Copyright 2023 © Dave Bledsoe. All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    What the HELL Were You Thinking?

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