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. 3d ago ·  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

    28 min
  2. When You're Here, You're Family

    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

    31 min

  3. 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

    40 min

  4. 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

    31 min

  5. May 4

    Hey Joe, Where You Going With That Son In Your Hand?

    Show Notes Episode 524: Hey Joe, Where You Going With That Son In Your Hand? This week Host Dave Bledsoe climbed on a bar stool and shouted “Ask not why I should pay this bar, but why should this bar not pay for me?” and passed out. (Again) On the show this week we present part one of the President who defined the Baby Boomer Generation, JFK. (We all know it was really Ronald Reagan.) Along the way we learn that Bill Clinton was the only Gen X President we will ever see. (Despite being a Boomer) Then we dive right into a short history of the Irish in America. (They were not made to feel welcome.) Then we met the man who would be President, Joe Kennedy Sr. (It was a whole thing.) Finally, we get around to a Kennedy who WOULD be President. We follow him from his childhood, to this service in the war, and his election to public office. (We even get to meet Jackie!) We learn that Jack was not well, in fact he was profoundly broken.  (Not just morally, but physically.) Finally, we talk about his campaign for President and how America wouldn’t have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.  (For a few years anyway) Our Sponsor this week is Nepotism, it just works.  We open the show with JFK announcing his Presidential run and close with Corey Hueval who has some concerns about Joe. 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/x-UZq57HJzM?si=wKM6GFx-nRbG-9R8 Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed:  Wikipedia: Irish Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Americans#Discrimination Joe Kennedy: A Complex and Shocking Ambassador https://www.thehistoryreader.com/historical-figures/joe-kennedy-a-complex-and-shocking-ambassador/#:~:text=%281888%20%E2%80%93%201969%2C%20second%20from,always%20make%20good%20biographical%20subjects. John F. Kennedy kept these medical struggles private https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/john-f-kennedy-kept-these-medical-struggles-private Wikipedia: JFK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy#U.S._Senate_%281953%E2%80%931960%29 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    31 min

  6. Apr 20

    If You're Going to San Francisco

    Show Notes Episode 523: If You’re Going to San Francisco This week Host Dave Bledsoe proclaims he is all about peace, love and understanding as he is bodily ejected from a private party with an open bar. (To which he was NOT invited.) On the show this week we examine the movement that embodied the 1960s, damn dirty hippies. Along the way we discover that Dave was NOT a flower child. (He was, however, very lazy) Then we dive right into the people who were Hippies before people were Hippies.  Then we meet the Beats, the cool guys that really did all the things the Hippies just talked about. (And wrote MUCH better poetry) We chart the rise of the Hippies from San Francisco students to a national movement revolving around cheap weed and free love. From Golden Gate to Central Park we talk about the Human Be-Ins and hit the road with a pair of average Hippies during the Summer of Love. (He just made them up!) Finally, we talk about the darker side of Hippiedom. (Free love for me, not for thee!) Our Sponsor this week is Hippie B-Gone, a safe, humane way to treat your Hippie infestation.  We open the show with contemporary news reports about Hippies and close with Child of Caesar who has some tips for visiting San Francisco. 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/vNcWKAgTZek?si=ZHIB2Hq2LrNtRBcQ Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Proto-Hippies and the Introduction of the American Hippie https://blog.littlehippie.com/proto-hippies-and-the-introduction-of-the-american-hippie/ Small thoughts at large https://web.archive.org/web/20110429204206/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/31/PK6016S108.DTL What Baby Boomers’ Parents Did Wrong https://www.fatherly.com/parenting/baby-boomer-parents Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    30 min

  7. Apr 6

    Are You Experienced?

    Show Notes Episode 522: Are You Experienced? This week host Dave Bledsoe thought he had a psychedelic experience when he started seeing strange shapes and colors only to discover he had passed out in the ball pit of a Chuck E Cheese. (Again.) On the show this week we take a look at the influence of LSD and other hallucinogens on pop culture in the 1960s. Along the way we discover that even at a Dead Show, no one wants him around.  Then we dive right into the history of illicit substances in music. (You think those Gregorian Chant monks weren’t high?) Then we meet a band of Merry Pranksters (Their pranks were mostly just dropping acid) and their house band, the Warlocks. (You know them better by the Grateful Dead) More importantly, we meet their sound guy Owsley Stanley.  (His friends, and customers, called him Bear.) We wrap up with a look at art, literature and fashion inspired by LSD and finally explain that all the shit you see tripping is on YOU! Our Sponsor this week is Teddy’s Tie Dye, because one color is boring.  We open the show with a radio commercial for a Dead Show and close with BrennanKill who has a question for you. 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/UH4aH1nlkgU?si=i8aQ5vp2EufKk3VL Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Music and Recreational Drugs https://www.o-em.org/index.php/fieldwork/61-music-and-recreational-drugs?showall=1&limitstart= Trippy Tales in Classical Music https://www.kusc.org/articles/trippy-tales-in-classical-music From the Piano of an Opium Eater https://interlude.hk/piano-opium-eater/ The Trippy Life of the LSD Manufacturer Who ‘Helped Create the 60s’ https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-trippy-life-of-the-lsd-manufacturer-who-helped-create-the-60s/ How an LSD-Spiked Coffee Gave Birth To The Beatles' Revolver https://www.therevolverclub.com/blogs/the-revolver-club/how-an-lsd-spiked-birthed-the-beatles-revolver?srsltid=AfmBOorVPQmDn6a_0ZHie8rvALot5T6xx47Q7Tn7W7XySbPNETZH_Ohr Wikipedia: Owsely Stanley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owsley_Stanley#Involvement_with_the_Grateful_Dead Psychedelic rock https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/psychedelic-rock Why is the American right suddenly so interested in psychedelic drugs? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/18/psychedelic-drugs-us-republican-thiel-mercer-foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    31 min

  8. Mar 23

    I Trip, Ergot I Am

    Episode 521: I Trip, Ergot I Am This week host Dave Bledsoe got into a batch of Rye and woke up the next day convinced he had ergotism. (Turns out his body was rejecting top shelf whiskey) On the show this week bring you part one of the story of LSD and the 1960s. (By talking about anything but the 1960s. Naturally.) Along the way we discover that Dave has big plans for the future. (He is gonna get SO HIGH!) Then we dive right into the ancient history of hallucinogens and human civilization. (We have religion because of them!) Then we learn about ergotism. (Which Dave was shocked to learn wasn’t about him!) Then we meet the man who created LSD and the people who made it groovy! Our Sponsor this week is The Little Dudes Who Live In the Walls, who wants you that are VERY high. We open with Jimmy Carter and close with Grateful Dave, who is on a journey.  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/s30knXhV940?si=IkOKdtMZKD--tDND Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: How Do Psychedelics Work in the Brain? https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_do_psychedelics_work_in_the_brain The long history of psychedelics in religion, from ergot-spiked wine to magic mushrooms https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-21/religion-psychedelic-renaissance-peyote-magic-mushrooms-lsd/101346594 Wikipedia: The History of LSD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_LSD#Discovery High Times: When does self-experimentation cross the line? https://web.archive.org/web/20230408075721/https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/high-times LSD experiments by the United States Army https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957154X17717678?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed High Anxiety: LSD in the Cold War https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/high-anxiety-lsd-in-the-cold-war When Aldous Huxley Opened the Doors of Perception https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/when-aldous-huxley-opened-the-doors-of-perception/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    32 min
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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
    624
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Copyright 2023 © Dave Bledsoe. All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    What the HELL Were You Thinking?

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