What the HELL Were You Thinking?

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, @whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social and the show name on Facebook.

Episodes

July 4, 2025 73 mins
This week Host Dave Bledsoe was overcome with patriotism he was unable to work. (We couldn't figure out what shitty bar he was hiding in, again) So in honor of what is probably our nation's last birthday, we give you a rerun megamix about Desert Storm. The last time American really felt good about itself. We are back next with Summer Series 2025 kicking off, so stay tuned! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices....
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What the HELL Were You Thinking covers all the Little Wars, so convenient to make a politician LOOK good without killing too many Americans! Join us as we go from the Iran Hostage Crisis all the way to the Balkans as three Presidents wagged the dog for their ratings! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Show Notes Episode 499: State of the Podcast Podcast This week Dave sobered, took a look around and discovered what he had been doing for the past decade. (He did NOT like what he discovered) So, on the show we took a brief moment to talk about ten years and way more than 500 episodes of the podcast. Along the way we learned we could have been spared all of this if Dave had just stuck to the plan.  (SIX episodes and OUT!) Then we...
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Show Notes Episode 498: “Is It Safe To Go Back In The Water?” This week Host Dave Bledsoe got drunk and kicked out of the New York Aquarium for shouting “I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU” at the shark tank. (Again.) On the show this week we talk about the movie that changed how Americans went to the movies and how they went to the beach! We talk about Jaws on its 50th Anniversary! Along the way Dave explains how childhood trauma made him t...
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June 16, 2025 31 mins
Show Notes Episode 497:Come As You Are This week Host Dave Bledsoe was asked by a trendy New Yorker where he thrifted all those “awesome vintage clothes” and told them WalMart in 1997. (Clearly a lie, like he could fit in the size he wore in 1997!) On the show this week we examine the music and style that came to define Generation X: Grunge. Along the way we discover that Dave has always had terrible taste in music. (He has a Phi...
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Show Notes Episode 496: It’s Not Tv, It’s The Green Channel This week Host Dave Bledsoe got hammered and spent four hours trying to explain to a bartender how you could see boobs in TV  static when he was a kid. (Again.) On the show this week we take a look at how boobs and sports changed television forever, we talk about the birth of HBO! Along the way we learn that Dave’’s grandparents were too poor to afford more than one tele...
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Show Notes Episode 495: The Buck Stops Elsewhere Part 2 of Iran Contra This week Host Dave Bledsoe demands immunity from paying his bartabs only to be found in contempt by the bartender. (Again) On the show this week we take a look at the fallout from the Iran Contra Affair. (Spoiler: No one went to jail.) Along the way we discover that Dave has a dubious idea of what “truth” means. (If you are just now learning this, welcome to...
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Show Notes Episode 494: Ollies Big Idea Part 1 of Iran Contra This week Host Dave Bledsoe tried to implement a plan where the bartender gave him whiskey, he drank it and the tab was paid by a third party which would remain classified. (It did not work.) On the show this week we talk about the time the United States did one crime to pay for another crime, we talk Iran Contra! Along the way we learn that Dave’s idea of acceptable ...
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We are taking the week off to recover from a cocaine hangover, so we bring you a rerun of a classic episode! It is ALSO a foreshadowing of what is to come! So, enjoy our hit job on Ronald Wilson Reagan and get ready for an ever NASTIER hit job next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Show Notes Episode 493: Secret Dealer Man Part 3 of the Crack Epidemic This week Host Dave Bledsoe tried to make a bartender believe he was an undercover agent for the state liquor authority and drinking for free would help their case. (It would have worked if his “badge” didn’t read Female Body Inspector) On the show this week we FINALLY conclude the Crack Epidemic and Coke Month with the story of how maybe the CIA did the crack...
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Show Notes Episode 492: You STILL Want A New Drug Part 2 of the Crack Epidemic This week Host Dave Bledsoe thought he was done drinking but discovered his credit card company had (Foolishly) upped his credit limit. (This will not end well for either of them) On the show this week we deliver part two of the crack epidemic talking about all the lies told by white people to scare themselves about black people doing crack.  Along th...
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Show Notes Episode 491: You Want A NEW Drug? Part 1 of the Crack Epidemic This week Host Dave Bledsoe found himself unexpectedly in a serious situation when we staggered into an Irish wake and had to pretend he was cousin Eamon from Cork. (He was quickly figured out because his fake Irish accent kept sounding more Jamaican.) On the show this week we unexpectedly found ourselves tackling a topic way more serious than this dumb s...
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April 21, 2025 29 mins
Show Notes Episode 490: Miami Vice Vice Baby This week Host Dave Bledsoe finds himself in hot water with his boss over his constant screw ups and is told to turn in his microphone and podcaster badge   (Which is just some toy Jeremy got out of vending machine and told Dave it was “official”) On the show this week we head back to the 80’s to talk about a television show that took America from 70’s beige to 80’s neon pastels, Miami ...
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Show Notes Episode 489: We Built This City on Flake and Blow This week Host Dave Bledsoe puts on a Hawwian shirt, drops a Jimmy Buffett record on the turntable and mixes up a Bahama Mama before anyone figured out that he was not part of the wedding and threw him out of the venue. (This happens a lot.) On the show this week we head south to a city of sun, sand and billions of dollars worth of cocaine, we talk about the Miami Drug W...
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April 5, 2025 29 mins
Show Notes Episode 488: Coke Is IT!! This week Host Dave Bledsoe was in a bathroom stall with white powder all over his face. (He passed on the shitter eating a powdered donut. Again.) On the show this week, we kick off a series of shows about cocaine, the drug that made white people think disco was for them! Along the way we learned that Dave was never cool enough to even try cocaine! (Pussy) Then we dive right into the history ...
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April 4, 2025 1 min
It was the fuel that ran the 70’s and 80’s. It gave us disco, hair metal and pretty much every country music song between 1971 and, well now. There is at least a 30% chance that you were personally conceived while your parents were high as balls on it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Show Notes Episode 487: Trade You Three Beenz for a Flooz This week Host Dave Bledsoe offers to trade the bartender stock options in his internet start up Beer Me only to have his IPO flop badly. (Again) On the show this week we head back the heady days of the late 90’s when everyone had an internet startup ready to fail, the Dot Com Bubble! Along the way we are reminded why you should never take financial advice from a podcast ho...
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March 24, 2025 31 mins
Episode 486: It Could Use More Snot This week Host Dave Bledsoe proffered a Mickey Mantle rookie card in exchange for the clearance of his bar tab despite the fact that it was clearly printed on cardstock by an inkjet low on cyan. (They forced him to eat it before they tossed him out.) On the show this week we examine the disgusting kids collectible that swept the nation in the mid 1980’s (It was like pervy Pokemon!) Along the way...
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Show Notes Episode 495: Avon, Amway and Tupperware, OH MY! This week host Dave Bledsoe devises a plan where he recruits two people to pay for his drinks and they recruit two people to pay for their drinks and one of his, everyone profits. (It didn’t work because no one likes him enough to buy even ONE drink for him.) On the show this week we took a look back at side hustles in the 70’s and 80’s (And maybe buy some Tupperware.) Al...
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Show Notes Episode 313: I Would Smoke 500 Miles, And I Would Smoke 500 More (Redux This week Host Dave Bledsoe wakes up coughing from what he is sure is just cat dander and allergies, and proceeds to light the first smoke of the day!  (We’re sure everything is fine!) On the show this week, we open up that one drawer in the kitchen with all the menus and a phone book from 2001 to see how many Marlboro Miles we can find in there!  (...
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