What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Dave Bledsoe
  • 5.0 (9)
  • 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

    Insert Beatles Song Here

    Episode 520: Insert Beatles Song Here This week host Dave Bledsoe woke up, got out of bed and dragged a comb across his head. (At roughly 3 PM because he slept off his hangover.  Again.)  On the show this week we examine the very loud phenomena of young women screaming over four British dudes, we talk about Beatlemania! Along the way Dave waxes rhapsodic over Phil Collins. (Again) Then we dive into the first singer mania to sweep America, we talk about Frankie. (Sinatra, not goes to Hollywood) Then we met up with lads from Liverpool who like American music. (The Merseybeats.  That joke never gets old.) We follow their rise from Liverpudlian obscurity, to German prominence to the biggest f*****g band in the entire Universe.  (Take THAT Jesus.)  Finally we try to explain the almost inexplicable reaction that young people, primarily young women, had to The Beatles all the while not playing any actual Beatles songs. (The rights holders are QUICK with a copyright strike!)  Our Sponsor this week is A Day In the Death, the premier Black Metal Beatles cover band in Northern New Jersey.  We open the show with the Fab Four arriving in America and close with Werna Wolf saying aloha! 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/I-Y6rUM1DgM?si=tIxn7wBMPLY-XTJh Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Sinatramania takes hold at the National Museum of American History https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/11/25/sinatramania-takes-hold-at-the-national-museum-of-american-history/ Frank Sinatra and the 'bobby-soxers' https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/Story/0,,127764,00.html The Beatles Were Louder Than a Jumbo Jet At Shea Stadium, Data Reveals https://www.newsweek.com/louder-beatles-fab-four-made-more-noise-jumbo-jet-data-reveals-498285 10 Facts About The Beatles's 'The Ed Sullivan Show' Debut https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/music/the-beatles-ed-sullivan-debut-facts Why did the Beatles Stop Touring? https://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/beatles-blog/why-did-the-beatles-stop-touring Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    33 min

  2. FEB 23

    Future So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades

    Show Notes Episode 519: Future’s So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades This week Host Dave Bledsoe passed out in a Waymo Taxi and woke up  in Albany owing $1700. (He charged to the network credit card. Again.) On the show this week we wrap up our exploration of the foundation myths of the Baby Boom with how the Atomic Age and the Space Race influenced pop culture and how pop culture influenced them. (In cartoon form.) Along the way we discover that Dave’s formative years were basically reruns and cheap plastic toys. (You can tell.) Then we dive into speculative fiction (speculating on whether Dave will ever get to the point) and how it really isn’t all that speculative.  Then we examine how the movies shifted after Sputnik and how television pretended the world wasn’t changing by imagining the future was exactly like today but space ships.  Finally, we explore the most influential television of the 1960s and how it shaped our vision of the future and our relationship with technology, also it had a talking dog. (Forget flying cars, where are our talking dogs?) Our Sponsor this week is Whuffo Toys Spaceman Space Toy for Boys because only boys go to space.  We open with Major Matt Mason and close with Jason Armstrong for whom things are going great! 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/478dy8NMO6w?si=m-mX0riEWEFlxd0j Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Wikipedia: Speculative Fiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction Science Fiction Before NASA https://auxiliarymemory.com/2018/07/17/science-fiction-before-nasa/ 50 Years of the Jetsons: Why The Show Still Matters https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/50-years-of-the-jetsons-why-the-show-still-matters-43459669/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    37 min

  3. FEB 9

    Crazy About A Mercury

    Show Notes Episode 518: Crazy About A Mercury This week Host Dave Bledsoe attempted to join a small group of elite performers dedicated to pushing the boundaries of human endurance in pursuit of knowledge. (He was in a drinking contest. He Lost) On the show this time we head back to the heady days of Steely Eyed Missile Men reaching out to the face of God. (And the boobs of every Cape Cookie on the coast) as we cover the Space Race and the Mercury Program! Along the way we discovered that Dave was never going to make it into space. Then we dive right into the people that made NASA (Nazi Scientists.)  Then join the Space Race already in progress as the Soviet Union launches Sputnik and America launches a public relations campaign.  We meet the Mercury Seven, the heroes who launched the program in the United States, and their long suffering wives.  (Astronauts: not good husbands) Finally we examine what the space program really gave us. (A massive flying homage to Jeff Bezos’ dong!) Our Sponsor this week is Paperclip Consultants, focusing on the job, not the problematic people doing it!  We open the show with NASA lying to us and close with Keith, who is crazy about Mercury! 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/05HZb6-i7zE?si=q_WhScXqzfypjRTK Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Wikipedia: Operation Paperclip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip Wikipedia: Mercury Seven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Seven Rendezvous with Destiny https://web.archive.org/web/20070618053311/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,864563,00.html Respected Astronauts Who Were Awful People https://www.grunge.com/127628/respected-astronauts-who-were-awful-people/ Being a Celebrity Astronaut Is Tougher Than It Sounds https://gizmodo.com/being-a-celebrity-astronaut-is-tougher-than-it-sounds-1548988589 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    32 min

  4. JAN 26

    Atom Bomb Baby

    Show Notes Episode 517: Atom Bomb Baby This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes into his laboratory to work on his experiments. (His lab is a bar and he is mixing toxic cocktails to drink alone. Again.) On the show this week we examine the second leg of the Boomer Tripod, which explains why Boomers are the way they are. (Standing in line at the Walmart return counters muttering racisms at an audible level.): The Atomic Age. Along the way we learn WAY TOO MUCH about Dave and his youthful “nocturnal emissions”. (Eew. Just Eew!) Then we dive right into those heady years following World War Two when America was in love with the Atom.  We explore all the ways people tried to make the bomb work in civilian applications and all the things people imagined we would power with a nuclear reactor.  (We could have had atomic cars!) Then we take a look at the atom in pop culture.  From atomic beauty queens to atomic labs under the Christmas tree, the atom was cool until it wasn’t. (Funny how nuclear war can ruin a good time!!) Our Sponsor this week is The Junior Manhattan Project Home Set, the future bright because it glows from atomic radiation! We open the show with a little cartoon explaining the atom and close with Unexpected Visitors who sing us a little love song! 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/FNYCq452aEA?si=zjYQBx7QQf_ZKFr2 Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: The Manhattan Project an Interactive History https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945-present/public_reaction.htm The Atomic Automobile https://www.damninteresting.com/the-atomic-automobile/ America’s Crazy Attempts to Build Nuclear-Powered Aircraft https://nationalinterest.org/feature/americas-crazy-attempts-build-nuclear-powered-aircraft-13352 Atomically Bad Ideas for the Atomic Bomb https://www.ripleys.com/stories/atomic-bomb-ideas How Uranium Fever Shaped the 1950s Southwest https://yesterdaysamerica.com/how-uranium-fever-shaped-the-1950s-southwest/ 4 Atomic-Themed 1950s Beauty Queens https://www.mentalfloss.com/culture/fashion-beauty/4-atomic-themed-1950s-beauty-queens Comics and the atomic bomb from 1945 to 1955 https://www.tcj.com/comics-and-the-atomic-bomb-from-1945-to-1955/ Pop Music and the Bomb https://thebulletin.org/2018/12/pop-music-and-the-bomb/ Toy Geiger Counter by Bell Products (1955-1956) https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/toys/bell-products-geiger-counter.html 7 Retro Toys From the Atomic Age https://www.mentalfloss.com/fun/toys/retro-atomic-age-toys Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    40 min

  5. JAN 12

    Red, Red Whine

    Episode 516: Red, Red Whine This week Host Dave Bledsoe woke up brutally hungover behind a trash dumpster in the Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia meaning a whole New Year has started.  (It’s tradition) On the show this week, we end our hiatus without actually going on hiatus. (Turns out Dave was just sad) We start our generational pivot with the first leg of the tripod that holds up the Baby Boomers, the Red Scare!  Along the way we discover that Dave isn’t a communist (Turns out their parties are not his kind of parties) then we dive right into the history of international Communism with its bearded Daddy, Karl Marx. We breeze past the first Red Scare and honestly most of the second one, focusing on the major players.  (Oddly, mostly Republicans) We talked about why they were looking for a communist under their beds (because they didn’t like Jews) and why they had to persecute anyone who might be a communist.  (Again, they don’t like the Jews).  Then we take a quick look at the impact of the Red Scare on American society and how it formed the Boomer generation. (It is why so many of them don’t like the Jews) Our sponsor this week is Your Local Communist Party, there are six of us, how scary can we be? We open with a 50s newsreel about international Communism and close with Kuerdas who prefer reds. 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/K3eobcILO3Q?si=_9vnBoQtYy5gvSjA Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Britannica: Karl Marx https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Marx Wikipedia: The Communist Manifesto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto “Enemies from Within”: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s Accusations of Disloyalty https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6456 Anti-Communism in the 1950s https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/anti-communism-1950s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    34 min

  6. 12/22/2025 · BONUS

    Episode 430: Carl's Worst Xmas Redux

    Show Notes Episode 430: Carl’s Worst Christmas Ever and Other Holiday Tales This week Host Dave Bledsoe tries some amazing eggnog some guy’s brother made with  lighter fluid and starts telling stories. (Again) For our annual “Jesus, is it Christmas already?” episode, we dig into the vaults of Dave’s Brain to bring you lurid tales of Christmas’ gone wrong in every way possible. Be they marital infidelity, public masturbation or a singularly misfortunate ornament mishap, someone is not having a happy holiday. (This is why Dave doesn’t get invited to story hours at the library.) So gather your family around the fire (I mean the adult family, leave kids watching their Youtube or whatever) pour yourselves something from a bottle being passed around and get ready for stories of people having a MUCH worse Christmas than you are! Our sponsor this week is the Holiday Ornament Safety Council who remind you that decorations go on the tree, not inside you.  We open with a heartwarming family gathering and close with Lord Weatherby who is freaking out. Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ The Show on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxP5ywpZ-O7qu_MFkLXQUQ Our Website: www.whatthehellpodcast.com Give us your money on Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music:https://youtu.be/T7OBPvc9ddA?si=dtGOwiq-8t-HRzSz We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/ Citations Needed: 18 Christmas Disasters That'll Make You Feel Bad For Laughing https://www.buzzfeed.com/beckybarnicoat/christmas-disasters People Tell Us Their Worst Christmas Horror Stories https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgmm5p/people-tell-us-their-worst-christmas-horror-stories 24 Christmas disasters to make you feel better about burning the turkey, from poisoned guests to 7,000 acres of fire damage https://www.countrylife.co.uk/food-drink/24-christmas-disasters-make-feel-better-burning-turkey-poisoned-guests-7000-acres-fire-damage-209545 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    30 min

  7. 12/15/2025 · BONUS

    Frosty the Snow Ho (Redux)

    Show Notes Episode 343: Frosty the Snow Ho (Redux) This week, Host Dave Bledsoe is basically phoning it in so he can get on with the business of his Christmas Bender.  (You probably won’t be able to notice anything different)  On the show this week, we take a look at some of the bizarre and inexplicable Christmas specials that taught us that sharing special times with family is the true meaning of Christmas.  (And to buy whatever junk they were plugging in the special.) Along the way we learn that Dave is not only a bad son, he is a really s****y uncle too!  (Shocked?  Don’t be.) Then we dive right into the strange and questionable television offerings that have “entertained” kids for decades.  (Yes, we mention the Star Wars special, but it is hardly the only one out there.)  From Eternia to 75 million years before the Reason for the Season was ostensibly born in a stable, we pick at all the logical flaws and blatant commercialism we can find.  Finally, we wrap up with REAL Holiday specials, with heartwarming themes like gangbags and sodomy!  (Because spending time with the ones you love, or the ones you love for about an hour is what Christmas is really about!) Our Sponsor this week is the Elvish Liberation Front, from the North Pole to the Keebler Tree, we won’t stop until every elf is free.  We open with Han and Chewie and close with the Universal Robot Band getting funky for Christmas! Show Theme: https://www.jamendo.com/track/421668/prelude-to-common-sense The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ www.whatthehellpodcast.com Give us your money on Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/7NEnSkpbmCY We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/ Citations Needed: The Gay Subtext of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer https://www.vulture.com/2016/12/rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeers-gay-subtext.html The 16 Worst Christmas Specials of All Time https://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/12/the_16_worst_christmas_specials_of_all_time_1.php Fright Christmas: 15 Horrifying Kids Holiday Specials https://www.cbr.com/horrifying-kids-christmas-specials/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    31 min

  8. 12/08/2025

    Sodas In Spaaaaace!

    Show Notes Episode 515: Sodas In Spaaaaace! This week Host Dave Bledsoe got liquored up on orange flavored Metamucil and vodka and got kicked out of a retirement village bingo game. (Again) On the show this week we head back to 1985 when the Cola Wars took off for low orbit because Coke and Pepsi had money to burn. Along the way we learn that Dave never stood a chance at NASA. (They didn’t make space suits in 5XL) Then we dive right into what the first astronauts ate in space. (Goo, they ate goo.) Then we head back down to the Earth where a Coca Cola executive had an idea that was out of this world, and how it turned into yet another vicious skirmish in the long running and increasingly bitter “cola wars”. We learn how Coke spent a quarter of a million dollars and Pepsi opened their medicine cabinet.  Finally we discover why sodas crashed and burned like a solid rocket booster in chilly weather.  (Too soon?). Our Sponsor this week is Tap Water, if you’re thirsty get some.  We open the show with Coke in space and close with astronaut Chris Hadfield singing out sitting in a tin can. 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/AfEng898uRA?si=JGyjlv-GQ_D-4Q4Z Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Fallout from the Unauthorized Gemini III Space Sandwich https://www.nasa.gov/history/fallout-from-the-unauthorized-gemini-iii-space-sandwich/ How would fizzy drinks behave in space? https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/how-would-fizzy-drinks-behave-in-space The First Soda in Space: When NASA Got Caught Up in the Cola Wars https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/science/coke-pepsi-nasa-space-shuttle.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6E8.TPFd.7B7gLuAuHrDA&smid=url-share 'Space cola wars' at 35: When Coca-Cola, Pepsi tested soda in space https://www.collectspace.com/news/news-081120a-space-cola-wars-35-years.html 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
    616
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Copyright 2023 © Dave Bledsoe. All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    What the HELL Were You Thinking?

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