What The Hell Were You Thinking

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, @thehell_podcast on Twitter, @whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social and the show name on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Notes Summer Shorts Volume 1: Toxic Pink Houses It is Memorial Day Weekend here in the US of Murka and that means that all across the land people are heading out for the traditional start of Summer! That also means Host Dave Bledsoe has retreated to the dankest, darkest, dingiest dive bar he can find, swearing he will not come out until Halloween. (He says this every year, he never lives up to it!)  That also means the start of our series of minisodes (OK, slightly shorter than normal episodes) so the WTH Team can take some time off. (Dave is making Gavin regrout the WTH Studio Bathroom over the long weekend.  What a dick!) These are episodes with topics we found just a little thin for a full length show but didn’t want to give up on entirely. (Because content is content!) This week we are talking about MTV’s Paint The Mutha Pink contest where they gave away a house to a lucky listener! The catch, the house is on a toxic waste dump! (Yay Capitalism!)  Our return Sponsor is Davey Beer, the cheap beer wi

Show Notes Episode 450:”Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me” This week Host Dave Bledsoe staggers into what he thought was a cornfield drunk out of his gourd on moonshine. Only to be kicked out of the WalMart Garden Department for telling off color jokes to the other shoppers. (again) On the show this week, we celebrate nine years of podcasting by paying tribute to the wellspring of all our humor: Hee Haw! Along the way we discover why Dave is the uncultured oaf he is. (Don’t blame his Aunt Bonnie, she TRIED!) Then we dive right into the story of Hee Haw, after we explain why Nashville is the heart of Country Music. (Hint: A lot of out of work musicians.) We follow two Canadians who came south to make television and the reasons why they made the greatest comedy variety show of all time in a fake cornfield. (The sets were left over from Green Acres.) We meet the hosts and cast of Hee Haw and then explain why Hee Haw is more than just bad jokes and hillbilly stereotypes. (We mean, there is a LOT of that too!) Final

Episode 291: “The Ruror Furor” Redux This week Host Dave Bledsoe is taking off to recharge his batteries. (Meaning he suddenly came into some money we are unable to find which shitty bar he is currently on a bender within.) So while we waited for him, we thought we would run a companion piece from the archives to last week’s AND next week’s show.  It is one of our favorites and includes the single finest topic segue in podcasting history.  (According to Dave anyway.) So  sit right back and hear a tale about the time CBS canceled every show featuring a pig on their network! It was called “the rural purge” 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/ 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 www.w

Show Notes Episode 449: “Good Evening From Captain Midnight” This week Host Dave Bledsoe was found trapped on the 8th floor fire escape of his building after drunkenly trying to install an illegal cable hook up.(Which is odd since he doesn’t own a TV, but again, he was drunk at the time.) On the show this week we travel back to the golden age of satellite dishes when millions of Americans had a big ass dish in the front of their trailer homes.  Along the way we discover that Dave’s parents TRIED to teach him valuable skills as a child but he just wanted to become a podcaster. (He CLAIMS he was very ahead of his time!)  Then we dive into a brief history of all the ways one could get a television signal into your home. (Many of them are kind of illegal) Then we take you to the brief heyday of free pay cable channels if you had a couple of thousand dollars for a satellite dish. (A surprising number of people went for it!) Finally we explain how HBO ruined it for everyone and what one man would do in the name

Show Notes Episode 448: Outrageous, Egregious, Preposterous! This week Host Dave Bledsoe angrily insists he should NOT have to pay for the drink that he drunkenly spilled all over himself because the bartender clearly knew he was too drunk to lift it! (The case was settled out of court when the bouncers appealed to his sense of self preservation) On the show this week we talk about that time that McDonald’s burned an old lady’s vay jay jay and refused to pay! Along the way we discovered where Dave’s terrible taste in coffee originated. (He takes it black, like his men) Then we dip into the history of coffee (because we have a formula and we stick to it) and finally get around to telling you about that time in the 1990’s when an old lady suffered massive burns on her Hoo Hah because McDonald’s crappy coffee was served WAY too hot! We also explain how the media helped their corporate masters spin the story to fuck over all us little people in court. (Again!) Our Sponsor is “Cuppa Damn Coffee” the place wher

Show Notes Episode 447: Tell Him About the Twinkie This week Host Dave Bledsoe insists he cannot be legally responsible for this bar tab because he was drunk when the charges were incurred! (The bartender dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the bouncers threw him in the dumpster out back. Again.) On the show this week we examine how a snack cake entered the lexicon of American jurisprudence. (Hint: It was the media.) Along the way we learn why Dave was such a fat little boy! (Little Debbies ARE delicious!) Then we explain the history of the Twinkie, which has absolutely NOTHING to do with the court case we eventually get around to talking about! (This is a very circuitous episode.) Finally we get into the court case in which case the aforementioned Twinkie is tangentially relevant. (We have a formula, folks.) We talk about the San Francisco murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. But mostly we talk about the defense their murderer Dan White used in court. (Ergo, the Twinkie Defense.) Our Sponsor

Show Notes Episode 446: Many Fools Were Pitied This week Host Dave Bledsoe is kicked out of a bar for bar tab he claimed he did not commit and is desperately searching for the A-Team to help. (The A-Team in this case is asking Gavin to loan him fifty bucks until Friday.) On the show this week we examine life and career or 80’s pop culture phenom Laurence Tereaud. You know him as Mr. T. Along the way we discover why Dave never wears any jewelry. (He is a cheapskate) Then we dive right into how much America loves to make myths out of men, whether those men deserve it or not.  However, in the case of Mr. T.,he kind of does. We trace T’s origins from the South Side of Chicago (It’s the baddest part of town) to a riot on a college campus, then to T’s lumberjacking in the military and finally to Dingbats, the disco where Mr. T’s personae was developed. (And the lawsuit over the proceeds). We follow his movie and television career to the inevitable moment Nancy Reagan sits on his lap and kisses him. (It was a str

Show Notes Episode 445: “What We’re Talking When We’re Talking Taco Tuesday” This week Host Dave Bledsoe passes out face down in a Big Beef Burrito Supreme and is kicked out of Taco Bell. (Again) On the show this week talk tacos, specifically we are talking out the origins of Taco Tuesday! (Who doesn’t love tacos, right?) Along the way we discover that Dave probably missed out on his once chance for a meaningful relationship but not understanding the fundamental nature of “cruising”. Then we dive right into the history of food wrapped in tortillas, going all the way to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica! We trace the tasty treats journey from south of the border to the boardroom of megacorporations as they squabble over who owned the rights to use the phrase “taco tuesday” (Come to find out, the legal owner is a bar in New Jersey!) Then we take the time to examine the beauty of the taco and how it can heal us as a nation. Our Sponsor this week is the return Tacopocalypse It’s HERE!  We open the show with a very sm

Show Notes Episode 444: “Ron, John and Jodie” This week Host Dave Bledsoe asks the bartender “You talking to me, are YOU talking to me?” when they ask him to pay for his drinks. (The bartender replied that he must be since he didn’t see any other deadbeat drunks around there.) On the show this week we head back to 1981 when John Hinckley Jr had his shot at greatness and missed. (A very fine line is being walked) Along the way we discover why Dave is the sad lonely old man he is today. (He is afraid of girls!) Then we dive right into the events of March 30th 1981 when Organized Labor saved Ronald Reagan’s life. (And STILL he fired those air traffic controllers!) We might John Warnock Hinckley Jr, a rich kid living the rich kid life in the mid 1970’s. But then his life took a turn toward darkness (not becoming a stock broker, which is how most rich kids turned to darkness back then.) Follow along as John watches a movie and takes the entirely wrong message and then barks a wrong try by trying to woo a young 

Show Notes Episode 443: Hale Bopp, Mmmmhmm, Hale Bopp Part Two of Packing a Purple Shroud This week Host Dave Bledsoe drunkenly gets into a white panel van thinking it was an Uber and spent three days in a UFO Cult before they kicked him out for being an asshole. (Again) On the show this week we finish our story about the Heaven’s Gate Cult. (Trigger Warning, balls are cut off) Along the way we discover Dave was quite the connoisseur of uncomfortable ways to fly. Then we pick back up with Herff and Bonnie who are busy building themselves a clique of believers.  We follow along as they assemble their “Away Team” (Honestly, these people were watching too much Star Trek and that is saying something coming from THIS podcast),moving from “starbases” in the woods to a mansion in San Diego. We cover the innovative solution to their sexual desires. (They cut off their balls) Finally, we discuss their ascension and why America found it so fucking funny. (America has bad taste) Our Sponsor this week is Art’s Interga

Show Notes Episode 442: “Which Brings Us Back to DOH!”  Part One of Packing a Purple Shroud  This week Host Dave Bledsoe asks the bartender to float him one last drink because later he will be leaving to join a Mothership located near Uranus. (He was still giggling when the bouncer dragged him out.) On the show this week we turn back to 1997 when a group of religious enthusiasts made big news for their unorthodox travel plans! We are talking about Heaven's Gate! Along the way we discover that Dave once tried to join a Wiccan coven because he thought he would see chicks naked. (They turned him down because they had no desire to see Dave naked.) Then we meet Marshall Herff Applewhite, a gentle soul born in the wrong place and time, also the wrong planet.  We follow Herff on his journey toward enlightenment, by which we mean we watch him struggle with being gay.  Herff struggles would eventually lead him to his cosmic destiny in the form of a middle aged Registered Nurse who was into astrology and aliens. (Eve

Show Notes Episode 441: “A Few Good Lawyers”  Movie Night: A Few Good Men This week Host Dave Bledsoe angrily insists the bartender “can’t handle the truth” when asked when he might be paying his bar tab. (They dragged Dave outside while screaming: “You WANT me at that bar, you NEED me at this bar” Again.) On the show this week, it is What the HELL Movie Night, we are talking about 1992’s “A Few Good Men”  Along the way we discover that Dave has opinions about the women and men in our nation’s National Guard. (Like he is such a hero?) Then we dive right into the story of a bartender with a dream (Yeah, that Dave would find another bar) and that dream is of Hollywood!  We meet a young Aaron Sorkin who wrote a script on bar napkins that became a Hollywood blockbuster. We follow along as Meathead from All In the Family takes up the story and casts the sexiest people to ever wear a US Navy uniform in a movie about the bastard step-children of the Navy. (The editorial stance of this podcast is firmly pro-Marine

Show Notes Episode 440: Booze Cruise to the Bermuda Triangle This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes to a Tiki Bar in Teaneck and gets lost on the way to the bathroom. (Again) On the show this week we examine the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. (We mean why people in the 1970’s suddenly got so into the idea of the Bermuda Triangle.  The other stuff is easily explained.) Along the way we learn that Dave is like he is because parents in the 70’s didn’t love their kids enough. (This is a baseless lie told for comedic effect, his parents HAD to love him a lot not to give him up for adoption) Then we dive right into the mysterious region called the Devil’s Triangle. (Not a euphemism for a well manicured bush) From its origins as some shit Christopher Columbus made up to make himself look cool, to some shit some dudes centuries later made up to sell books and magazines. (There is a common thread) We tell you about all the ways Hollywood made money off the triangle, and all the ways Milton Bradley made up to make money

Episode 439: Borked by Blockbuster This week Host Dave Bledsoe gets in a drunken row with a fellow barfly on the artistic merits of “Jiggly Juggs Volume 7” versus “Jiggly Juggs Volume 8” insisting 8 was repetitive trash until the bartender tossed them both out. (Again) On the show this week we tell you about the time a Supreme Court nominee’s video rental records gave us a whole new law! (But had nothing to do with keeping Bork off the bench.) Along the way Dave goes on Old Man Rant ™ about how tough it was before corporate video chains took over the video rental market.  Then we dive right into a brief history of home video rentals and how capitalism killed the mom and pop video stores. (It is somehow relevant, we swear) before finally getting to the main story about Robert Bork. (It’s OK if you don’t know who that is, we didn’t either.) We explain how the guy who did Dick Nixon’s dirty work gets nominated by Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court and everyone gets super pissed by the end of the story. (It re

Show Notes Episode 438: What If Everyone WAS Kung Fu Fighting? This week Host Dave Bledsoe loudly proclaims he knows “Drunk Fu” as the bouncers haul him toward the exit. (Drunk Fu is mostly just screaming and crying while struggling weakly against stronger men). On the show this week talk about that time in the 1970’s when everyone was doing karate kicks on the disco floor and hurting each other: we are talking the Kung Fu Craze of the 1970’s Along the way we learn exactly what kind of nerd Dave was as a kid. (The kind who eschewed physical exercise for reading books.) Then we dive right into the short, short version of martial arts, martial arts movies and how martial arts movies became a thing Americans watched, and eventually danced to. (The Seventies were fucking weird man!) We head to Asia for a quick tour of Asian cinema and learn (very) little about the good Asian films in favor of the ones with dudes in rubber lizard suits and dudes punching the shit out of each other. (You want a movie podcast, lis

Episode 437: The Nip Slip Seen Around the World This week Host Dave Bledsoe loudly is very excited because he gets to talk about his favorite subject: Boobs. (Unfortunately he keeps insisting on talking about them to women at the bar, who do NOT want to hear it.) On the show this week we travel back 20 years ago this month to a more innocent time, when a half second of barely bar boob scandalized America. (Well, a small portion of it, the rest of American wanted to see more.) We are talking about The Wardrobe Malfunction and Nipplegate!  (Game on!) Along the way we learn more than ANYONE wanted to know about Dave’s first sexual experience. (Our editing team are still feeling nauseous) Then we dive into the history of mid game entertainment during American football championship games.  (We are not legally allowed to use the name of the damn thing without express permission of the National Football League.) Then we tell the backstory of all the people on the stage that fateful night, including Kid Rock. (For

Episode 279 Expanded Edition: Warning, Challenger Jokes Ahead(Update and Redux) This week Host Dave Bledsoe volunteers to be the first podcast host in space thinking it might convince people to buy him free drinks.  (It doesn’t.)  On the show this week we are somehow topical and yet entirely outdated as we talk about the Challenger Disaster.  (Yes, sadly, he DOES do the jokes.) Along the way we learn that most of what people SAY they remember about The Day Gen X Died is kinda wrong.  (Kinda like Dave trying to recall last Tuesday!) From there we jump right into the grim and stupid tale of the Shuttle Challenger disaster, mostly gleaned from the Netflix docu-series Challenger: Final Flight.  (We are not afraid to let others do our research for us!)  We learn why someone thought it was a good idea to send an untrained civilian into freaking Space.  (Reagan was doing badly with teachers.)  We meet the starry eyed optimist teacher who erroneously believed no one would be so STUPID as to send an untrained civili

Show Notes Episode 436: Now You’re Just A Leno That I Used to Know Finale of Winter Series 2024 “Late Nite with Dave Bledsoe” This week Host Dave Bledsoe gets into a bitter feud with his agent over whose round of drinks it is. (Dave doesn’t have an agent, he was arguing with an old drunk lady in Port Authority.  Again.) On the show this week we conclude our Winter Series for 2024 with the true tale of how Jay Leno ratfucked everyone he ever met. (Pointy chin motherfucker!) Along the way we discover that Dave is nothing if not consistent. (Consistently do stupid shit while drunk and then breaking into tears afterwards.) Then dive right into the backstory of James Douglas Muir Leno from his humble origins to his time in Hollywood buddying up to people he would eventually stab in the during his long march to the Tonight Show. (This show is neither fair, nor balanced.) We meet Helen, the woman that created Jay’s career only to be discarded when she threatened his seat behind the desk.  We learn the details abou

Show Notes Episode 435: From the Home Office In Howard Beach Queens Part Three of Winter Series 2024 “Late Nite With Dave Bledsoe” This week Host Dave Bledsoe gets into a blazing row with the network on whether or not he can submit bar tabs on his expense account, claiming them as a “vital research expense”. (Jeremy laughed him out of the office.) On the show this week we talk about the man who was hand picked to succeed Johnny Carson only to get screwed by The Chin, David Letterman. Along the way we discover Dave’s middle name (It is just as embarrassing as any of us could have hoped for!) Then we dive right into the backstory of Indiana's Favorite Son, David Letterman. (No state claims Dave Bledsoe) We follow him on his move to Los Angeles where he was discovered by Jimmy Walker, who thought he was DYNOMITE! (Sadly, we are the originators of that joke.) Then we see Letterman launch his career on television with a little help from the Starland Vocal Band. (This only sounds like we are making it up). Final