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What the HELL Were You Thinking?

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Rating
★★★★★
5
from
9 reviews
This podcast has
619 episodes
Language
English
Publisher
Dave Bledsoe
Explicit
Yes
Date created
2015/04/17
Latest episode
2026/04/20
Average duration
33 min.
Release period
12 days

Description

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. 

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If You're Going to San Francisco
2026/04/20
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
Are You Experienced?
2026/04/06
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
I Trip, Ergot I Am
2026/03/23
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
Insert Beatles Song Here
2026/03/09
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
Future So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades
2026/02/23
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
Crazy About A Mercury
2026/02/09
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
Atom Bomb Baby
2026/01/26
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
Red, Red Whine
2026/01/12
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
Episode 430: Carl's Worst Xmas Redux
2025/12/22
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
Frosty the Snow Ho (Redux)
2025/12/15
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
Sodas In Spaaaaace!
2025/12/08
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
Wall to Wall and Tree Top Tall Redux
2025/12/01
Show Notes Episode 340: We’re Wall to Wall and Tree Top Tall This week Host Dave Bledsoe is coming down out of Hog Town in a Thirteen Letter Shit Spreader hauling Go-Go Girls on the Dance Floor bound for Bingo Town, only to discover that no one has a single f*****g clue what he is saying when he talks like that.  (Not an uncommon event.) On the show this week, we climb into the cabs of our big rigs and take you back to the days when the Asphalt Cowboys captured America’s heart and everyone had a CB radio in their Pontiacs.  Along the way we learn that Dave thought he would be a Big Rig Driver because he liked the hats, until he learned he would need to park the damn things.  From there we dive right into the strange cultural moment in the 1970’s when everyone in America talked like a truck driver.  (What a bunch of Bucket Mouths) We find out how a combination of gas prices and not being able to drive 55 made the men (and they were almost all men) on the road big damn heroes because of some commercials for white bread  (Yeah, this story goes in some unexpected directions.) Our Sponsor this week is Pappy’s Pep Pills, we swear they ain’t speed (wink wink) We open the show with NPR and close with Phil and Shawn talking about BJ and the Bear. 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/pX5XB_MOVfA We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thanksgiving In Hell Total Redux
2025/11/24
Show Notes Episode 87: Thanksgiving In Hell Total Redux This week host Dave Bledsoe found himself in Federal Custody after getting shitfaced in an Irish bar and loudly demanding he wants to be deported to Ireland.  (Note, he is not actually FROM Ireland but he thought he would give it a try.) On the show this week we dug deep into the vaults to pull out an ancient but seasonally appropriate show, dusted off some of the references and hope you wouldn’t notice we did it years ago. Along the way we discover that no one in Dave’s family misses him at holiday dinners at all. (Or any other time of the year.) Then we dive right into how to get through Thanksgiving Dinner without killing a distant relative.  (Weed, the answer is weed.) Then we cover in painful details all the ways to WIN a fight with your relatives at your Thanksgiving Dinner. (Fight dirty.)  Our Sponsor this week is Distractors, punch the button, stop the fight before it starts. We open the show with a typical American holiday dinner and close with Flula who does not want you to call it a comeback. 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/G-VM5wqzhWY?si=bLw7aKYGno689VRx Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We're Not Gonna Take It (Redux)
2025/11/17
Show Notes Episode 259: “We’re Not Gonna Take It” This week Host Dave Bledsoe puts a Twisted Sister pin on his uniform and drunkenly shouts at himself in the bathroom mirror just to feel like someone else is with him.  (The man is desperately lonely and drinking too much.  You know, just normal Dave stuff)  On the show this week we travel back to 1985 to examine the Parents Music Resource Council, an issue so unimportant and trivial to the modern context that it should distract you for a good half hour from all the crazy shit in the world.  (You’re welcome) Along the way we meet the White Wives of Washington who decided it was their job to censor artists.  (They were the Karen’s of the 1980s)  We introduce to you to each of the Filthy Fifteen the list of songs the PMRC deemed so vile and offensive that children must be protected from them at all cost.  (God forbid they learned about getting off from Cyndi Lauper!)  We hear from the artists who defended the list, even though some of the Metal songs are just BAD songs. (Not evil, just really  poorly written.)  Finally, we learn why Tipper Gore felt it was SO important we have warning labels on music.  (Hint, it was so parents didn’t need to talk to their kids.) Our Sponsor this week is Columbia House Records, who want you to know they are back and they are coming for what they are owed.  We open the show with Dee Snider getting real with the Senate and close with Sunkissed Music being adorably rebellious! Show Theme: https://www.jamendo.com/track/421668/prelude-to-common-senseThe Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_PodcastThe Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/The Show on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/david-bledsoe-4 www.whatthehellpodcast.com Give us your money on Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/WhatthehellpodcastThe Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/3fCaxOBBPQo Citations Needed: Parental Advisory Forever: An Oral History of the PMRC’s War on Dirty Lyrics https://www.newsweek.com/2015/10/09/oral-history-tipper-gores-war-explicit-rock-lyrics-dee-snider-373103.html The Filthy Fifteen: Censorship, Gore And The “Parental Advisory” Sticker https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/filthy-fifteen-pmrc-censorship/ The Tipper Sticker at 30: The Most Entertaining (and Least Effective) Attempt at Censorship in Rock History https://www.kqed.org/pop/18111/the-tipper-sticker-at-30-the-most-entertaining-and-least-effective-attempt-at-censorship-in-rock-history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Brooks Brothers Riot Daddy-O (Part 2 of 2000 Election)
2025/11/10
Show Notes Episode 514: Brooks Brothers Riot, Daddy O Part 2 of the 2000 Election This week Host Dave Bledsoe tried crashing a corporate mixer for the open bar only to be quickly discovered because he was wearing a neck tie over an "Female Body Inspector” t-shirt. (Again) On the show this week we head back to the 2000 Election and the court case that elected a President. Along the way we discover Dave thought he might be a lawyer some day! (As opposed to constantly NEEDING a lawyer like today.) Then we dive into a short history of why we have a Supreme Court. (It turns out to make a President into a king 250 years later.) Then we rejoin our election lawsuits already in progress.  We watch the campaigns spend ungodly amounts of money on lawyers as they wind through the judicial system.  We meet the Brooks Brothers Mafia, a group of GOP Nerds who staged a little protest.  Then we head to the place this was always going to be determined, Washington DC for a partisan Supreme Court decision that damned America! Our Sponsor this week is My Little Lawyer children’s clothing, dress for the job you want them to have when they grow up! We open the show with a recap of the story so far and close with Somesing who wants you boys to break it up! 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/FPysALpIQlM?si=OkxNai_AVy9Slkmp Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Bush leads Gore by 327 votes in Florida recount, Associated Press reports https://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/10/election.president.02/ Presidency Hinges on Tiny Bits of Paper https://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~goguen/courses/275f00/abc-chads.html So, who really won? What the Bush v. Gore studies showed https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/31/politics/bush-gore-2000-election-results-studies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Podcast reviews

Read What the HELL Were You Thinking? podcast reviews


5 out of 5
9 reviews
★★★★★
NickNameAvailable1979 2022/09/14
Incredible
This is a hilarious and really well done show, the new one is also really well done! Keep up the great content on both shows.
★★★★★
Madame Woolite 2016/11/19
I wish I were a writer
Here is a good place to focus your rage! Enjoy it while we have it and seriously, we need to focus our rage.
★★★★★
twelve981 2015/09/21
not suitable for idiots
but you’re not an idiot are you
check all reviews on apple podcasts

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