What The Hell Were You Thinking

Show Notes Episode 400: Win One for the Gipper (Reagan Pt 1) This week Host Dave Bledsoe asks his “friends” to say a little something about four hundred episodes of this dumb podcast, and they do NOT disappoint! (We found him sobbing in the bathroom, again) On the show this week we FINALLY get around to talking about the  Bête noire of the show, Ronald Reagan! (Insert Peter Griffin shouting “He Said It!”) Along the way we learn that Dave was a Young Republican until he realized he would be one doing the bleeding and dying for the GOP. (He was a slow learner) Then we dive right into the back story of Ronald Wilson Reagan, from his time doing B List movies, to his lackluster military career, through his years stabbing his fellow actors in the back as president of the Screen Actors Guild, to his marriage to arch conservative but extremely skilled at oral Nancy Davis. We go on to chart his entry into politics and his time as governor of California fucking over poor people through his conniving to fuck over Dick

Bonus Edition: Friends Going to Low Places Host Dave Bledsoe asked his friends to give him their thoughts on 400 episodes of this dumb podcast.  They did not hesitate to give him the unvarnished truth.  The only thing harsher than his friends, was Chat GPT.  The AI was brutal. A VERY special thanks to all of those who sent  us their thoughts on the show:  Kimberly Steele, Andrew Roedell, Sean Crespo and Carol Hartsell, Jerermy Balon, Amy Shepphard, CJ Oliver, John-Michael Bassett, Brett Hall, Jerrod Tracht, Ben Bennick and Chat GPT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Originally broadcast March 11th 2017) SHOW NOTES Episode #100: “What the HELL Was I Thinking?” This week Dave Bledsoe wakes up, stumbles past the empty whiskey bottles and takes a long look in the mirror and finally asks himself what the hell was he thinking? (Hint: I need to clean up all the empty bottles). On the show this week we look back at 100 Episode of a low rated podcast and what we’ve learned. (Hint: We need to get out of the house more.) Along the way, we learn about the history of podcasting from the early form of Dave getting drunk and recording himself with his friends to a more evolved form of Dave getting drunk and recording himself alone. (It’s evolved because he learned it is cheaper to drink alone.) We also discover that the iPod was NOT the original name Steve Jobs preferred, we find that podcasts are where failed radio DJ’s go to die, and just that Dennis Miller deserves an Executive Producer credit on this show. (Sane Dennis Miller, not current Dennis.) We also look forward to the inev

Episode 399: Waco Me Up, Before You Go-Go (Pt 2 of the Waco Siege) This week Host Dave Bledsoe flashes his old cop badge and informs the bartender he is the State Liquor Inspector and will need to check their Jameson for “quality assurance” (He was lucky he was only thrown out, not arrested) On the show this week we wrap up our two-parter on the Waco Siege with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (who sounds like a real fun bunch, but aren’t) and how the screwed up pretty much EVERYTHING! Along the way we hear a little story about that one time where Dave got to be a hero, or something close. (We’re not saying he made it up, but we wouldn’t be surprised) Then we jump right into the way the country was in the early 1990’s and the Federal Government was making it worse. (Not to sound all Republican, but they REALLY were!) Then head down to Waco Texas (Technically, the Branch Davidian Compound was not IN Waco, more Waco adjacent!) where the ATF is looking into the activities of the Branch Davidians in th

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Show Notes Episode 397: All Bun, No Beef This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes on a date only to have it end badly when he experiences a “Clara Peller Moment”. (He claimed it was a very cold evening.) On the show this week we head back to 1984 when America had our hearts stolen by a crank octogenarian demanding to know where the beef was kept! That’s right, we talk Clara Peller and Where’s the Beef! Along the way we learn that despite not eating fast food for almost four years, Dave was somehow still fat! (He claims he was just “big boned", his latest date would beg to differ!) Then we dive right into the history of a totally different Dave, a Dave with a dream that did not involve a specific brand of Irish whiskey, Dave Thomas. We learn how Wendy’s went from a plucky upstart to the third largest burger chain in the United States. Moreover, we learn how Wendy’s had a plan to take on the Clown and King and become Number One! How? With the Platonic Ideal of the Little Old Lady. We chart Clara’s improbable rise from

Show Notes Episode 396: BALLOONS! Menace from Above! This week, Host Dave Bledsoe ducks his bill collectors by huffing helium and pretends to be a child when he answers the phone. (He could let it go to voicemail). On the show this week we examine the existential threat of the most dangerous flying object ever devised: The Balloon! (Someone tell the Montgolfier Brothers they finally made it!) Along the way we discover that Dave had no friends as a child. (Shocker, we know) Then we provide you with three tales of perfidy and panic all created by the diabolical auspices of the BALLOON! Beware listeners, you cannot know how heinous these latex harbingers of doom truly can be!  From the deserts of New Mexico, to the sunny skies of Southern California all the way to the shores of Lake Eerie, the Balloon Threat has terrorized and intimidated innocent Americans guilty of nothing more than living their lives! Why do these inflated horrors hate us with such unmitigated passions, we may know never. All we know is tha

Show Notes Episode 395: America Onthropocene This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes looking for love by staggering up to a bachelorette party and slurring Age/Sex/Location to the bride. (The bruises are finally starting to fade.) On the show this week are talking about how America went online with a little dial up service called Q-Link! You might know it better by its later name: American Online. (Or, just AOL) Along the way we find out that Dave was a Wordstar Wizard! (He earned an Air Force medal for his brave embrace of DOS based software!) Then we dive right into the history of how people downloaded porn from the Internet before their phones. (Those ASCII nudes were HOT!) Then we get on the story of two General Electric employees who had a dream that computers could be used for more than designing microwaves! Eventually, they sold their dream to a company that let you connect your Atari 2600 to a server and download a game. (You only got to keep the game for a week, and it took longer than that to download.) F

Episode 394: Bomb In the Bathroom Window (Part 2 of Operation Desert Storm) This week Host Dave Bledsoe sets his crosshairs on a valuable asset, meaning he found a bar where they haven’t heard of him. (Yet) On the show this week we come back with Part Two of Operation Desert, the shooty part! Don’t worry we would never glorify violence, in fact we find it entirely disturbing. (Except on television, that is cool.) Along the way we learn why Dave doesn't watch horror movies. (He’s a big fraidy cat!) Then we dive right into everything that happened once the bombs started dropping. (Bernie Shaw hid under a table!) We then discuss the feared Iraqi SCUD missile. (You can just call it Al!) And of course, who could forget the famous Patriot Missile! (We suppose the Iraqis would like to.) We talk ground combat from the ill fated Khafji Offensive all the way to the Highway of Death! (They had such descriptive names in this war!) Finally, we talk about homecoming, parades and how short a time the discounts at Denny’s

Show Notes Episode 393: A Feel Good War! Part 1 of Operation Desert Storm On the show this week Host Dave Bledsoe demands to drink for free on the anniversary of Operation Desert Storm and gets beat up in the VFW Hall. (Again) On the show this week we talk about the time America got its mojo back by going to war in Iraq! (That isn’t very specific, we mean the FIRST time!) Along the way we learn that Dave turned down a lucrative career in the fast food drive through for a wasted decade in the military. (He was never Taco John’s material) Then we dive right into the backstory that would lead America to the first war in the Persian Gulf.  (George HW Bush=WIMP!) Then we examine the “reasons” for the war and how we arm twisted the world into going along with us.  (I mean you can’t trust Dick Cheney, who CAN you trust?)  We time out for a tangent to explain a fight between Dave and his dad before we tell you why everyone was so on-board with this whole war thing in 1990!  (Wolf Blitzer’s beard was dead sexy!)  F

Show Notes Episode 392: Your Parent’s Old Polaroids This week Host Dave Bledsoe finds some horrifying Polaroids in a shoebox in his parent’s garage. (They were for his 5th birthday party, my GOD he was a fat little kid!) On the show this week talk about how the Apple of the 1970’s revolutionized photography and changed  how we all took pictures: Polaroid. Along the way we discover why Dave is the schlubby dresser he is today. (His parents didn’t waste money buying him fashionable clothes, because he was a fat little kid.) Then we dive right into a history of photography that nobody asked for and nobody wants, but is relevant to the topic. Then we move right along to the Polaroid camera and the role it played in pop culture in the 1970’s.  (Very easy to use while very coked up!) We talk about how it changed not only how we took photos, but WHY we took photos. (Even Boomers wanted homemade porn!) Then we see how technology changed everything, from the way art was created to how our Mamaws documented our birth

Show Notes Episode 391: Did She F**k That Duck This week Host Dave Bledsoe kicks off the New Year by showing up at a New Year’s Eve costume party wearing a fedora and pants claiming to be Howard the Duck. (He left after everyone just pointed and laughed at his tighty whities.) On the show this week, we talk about the second worst movie George Lucas ever produced after Phantom Menace: Howard the Duck. Along the way we learn how Dave basically thought Archie and Veronica were porn when he was growing up. (Honestly, we can see tossing one off to Veronica!) Then we dive right into the backstory of a misanthropic statement on existentialism that became one of the worst movies ever made. (By taking out the misanthropy and existentialism mostly.) We trace the lineage of Howard from his creation as a one off joke in a Marvel horror comic to his rise as a solo series and his brief run for President in 1976. (Howard would have handled the Iranian hostage situation quite differently!) Then we explain how this fairly c

Show Notes Episode 390: A Boxing Day Miracle This week Host Dave Bledsoe and Producer Gavin St James switch places in a traditional celebration of Boxing Day! (This is an outright lie because that is not how Boxing Day works and Dave only thinks that because of a MASH episode he saw as a kid) On the show this week, it is our annual year in review where we talk about all the stupid shit that happened in 2022!   Our Sponsor this week is The Year 2023, who wants you to keep your expectations in check. We open with a New Year’s montage from Ghostbuster 2 and close with Odi Acoustic singing about Boxing Day! 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 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/i7

Show Notes Episode 389: Don’t Throw ME In that Cabbage Patch This week, Host Dave Bledsoe staggers into the Cabbage Patch looking for a little action only to get kicked out of the community garden for not wearing pants. (Again) On the show this week, we head down to the toy store to beat the shit out of a mother of four who grabbed the last Cabbage Patch Doll before us. (She had it coming!) Along the way we learn that Dave’s parents loved him enough to buy him guns, but not enough to buy him bullets. (Smart thinking there) From there we dive right into the story of a 21 year old art student who blatantly rips off a middle aged doll maker to create the biggest shit show toy craze of the 1980s! (Capitalism at work folks!) Then we discover how Cabbage Patch Dolls are actually conceived, and find it…disturbing. (THIS IS A KID’S TOY?!?!) We follow along as a 70’s toy company makes it rich on fat, ugly babies only to lose it all on a laughably bad home computer system! (Those were the times.) Our returning Spons

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Show Notes Episode 388: As Seen on TV This week Host Dave Bledsoe is making a one time special offer for the low, low price of him not paying this bar tab if you just act now! (The bartender didn’t take him up on it.) On the show this week we take a look back at the origins of every late night bad decision in your life that did not involve a fellow bar patron with one eye and prison tattoo on their forehead, the infomercial.  Along the way we discover how Dave blocks commercials all the while making you listen to them so he can get paid. (Fucking hypocrite!) Then we dive right into the history of late night television and why you can only see cheesy products and washed up celebrities after 1 AM. (They need jobs too!) Then we explain why infomercials are so cheap and ubiquitous. (Do we play a bunch of them, you bet we do!) Then we tell you the tale of the man who almost (well he wasn’t even close) became President using the power of infomercials. (He actually just made Bill Clinton President.) Our Sponsor t

Episode 387: Dumb Dave Was So Dumb (How Dumb Was He?) This week Host Dave Bledsoe is violently ejected from a pub trivia night for answering every question with “Who is Charles Nelson Reilly?”. (Again) On the show this week we talk about the raunchiest drinking party that ever pretended to be a game show in history, the Match Game. Along the way we learn that Dave doesn’t clearly remember much of anything. (Particularly when it is time to cut staff paychecks) Then we dive right into the origin stories of game shows and one game show specifically. (It is the Match Game, come we just told you that!) From its origins as a vanilla quiz panel to the heyday of the dirtiest show on TV!   Our Sponsor this week is That One Team at Pub Trivia, who want you to know they are IN THIS TO WIN THIS! We open with Match Game 74 and close with it as well!   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

Once upon a time, Dave was NOT a hateful drunk filled with contempt for humanity. He was happy drunk, filled with hope for the future. (That ended pretty quick) This Thanksgiving we replay the only show we've ever produced that has nothing but hope, happiness and love. (It is kind of sickening) So take a listen while you make your Thanksgiving Dinners or just go about your Thursday! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 386: Family In Front, Bomb In the Back This week Host Dave Bledsoe sustains painful burns in a sensitive area while attempting to light his farts as part of his “research” for this episode. (Again) On the show this week, we tell you the True Story of The Little Carefree Car, which turned out to need a LOT of care indeed, the Ford Pinto! (Big Badda Boom) Along the way, Dave tells the same damn story he always tells when cars come up about his dream car that turned out to be a real POS. (Much like every poor woman who dated Dave naively thinking he was their dream guy) Then we dive right into the story how Ford created a little car that could go boom because of the Nazis. (Technically, they were just West Germans by then) From there we dig into the details behind the design flaws that made the Pinto so flammable and the lawsuit that demonstrated how little the Ford Motor Company valued a human life. (Less than eleven dollars) Then we cover the debunking that wasn’t exactly a debunking, but more like la

Show Notes Episode 385: They Were Dueling Dalton at the Double Deuce This week Host Dave Bledsoe decided to apply for work as a Cooler in a small midtown bar hoping he can drink for free, only to discover the bartender is much tougher than he is and she kicks his ass right out. (Again) On the show this week we talk about one of the greatest movies of the 1980’s, it has everything, fighting, boobies, booze, boobies, monster trucks, boobies and a dude’s throat being ripped out: Road House! Along the way we learn about the time Dave was savagely beaten by a tiny Korean woman. (He deserved it) Then we jump right into the history of the noble profession of bouncing from its beginnings as temple guards to the modern incarnation of large men who tell you that you are too ugly get into the club. Then we deep dive on Road House, a movie that most critics thought was so terrible it might actually be good! (Unlike this show which is just bad.) Our Sponsor this week is the James Dalton School of Philosophy and Martial