ComedySociety & CultureTV & FilmArtsDesignExplicit

What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Dave Bledsoe

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.

Play

Open in

21 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 32 min
English

Episodes 21

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

#533
September 14 · 35 min
Episode 533: Space--The Syndicated Frontier
On the show this week in honor of Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary we examine the Legend of Gene Roddenberry.
#532
August 31 · 32 min
Episode 532: The Great Bird of the Galaxy
On the show this week we celebrate sixty years of Star Trek by examining the man who MADE the show, Leonard Nimoy. Kidding! We are talking about Gene Roddenberry.
#531
August 17 · 32 min
Episode 531: By The Time We Left From Woodstock
On the show this week we head back to 1969 for the Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music that turned into three days of mud, sex and kick ass music. We talk about Woodstock!
August 3 · 35 min
Episode 530: Charles Isn't In Charge Anymore
Show Notes Episode 530: Charles Isn’t In Charge Anymore This week Host Dave Bledsoe finally mans up to get a tattoo of the most important thing in his life (a bottle of Irish Whiskey) only to chicken out when he saw the needle. (The tattoo artist said he cried like a little girl and wet himself.) On the show this week we FINALLY finish the Manson series with what happened after the trials were over. (More crimes and a LOT of denied paroles.) Along the way we discover that Dave’s friends were somehow WORSE than he was. Then we dive right into why Charlie didn’t ride the lightning like he was supposed to. (The Supreme Court used to not be evil.) Then follow Charlie’s many adventures in front of the parole board and his search for love. We catch up with Squeaky Fromme as she tries to keep busy with Charles in charge of her days and her nights. Finally, we learn about what happens when drugged out morons try to plan things. (They go very badly.) Our Sponsor this week is Regrets Laser Tattoo Removal, Regrets when you rather have one less to mention. We open the show with Squeaky and the Pres and close with the Blanks talking about a new boy in the neighborhood. 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/HCWPoMH_fz4?si=dGdK7E944mEALoS9 Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop Citations Needed: Wikipedia: Furman v Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia CHARLES MANSON PAROLE HEARINGS https://serialkillercalendar.com/CHARLES-MANSON-PAROLE-HEARINGS.php ‘I am Charles Manson’s wife’ https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/09/justice/charles-manson-wife Charles Manson’s fiancée wanted to marry him for his corpse: source https://nypost.com/2015/02/08/charles-mansons-fiancee-wanted-to-marry-him-for-his-corpse-source/ 4 bizarre moments from our interview with Charles Manson https://www.kcra.com/article/4-bizarre-moments-from-our-interview-with-charles-manson/13813357 Power, Mystery And The Hammer Of The Gods https://web.archive.org/web/20080128165609/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ledzeppelin/articles/story/17537975/power_mystery_and_the_hammer_of_the_gods Wikipedia: Attempted assassination of Gerald Ford in Sacramento https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Gerald_Ford_in_Sacramento Two former Manson followers discuss how cult family, 1969 murders changed their lives https://youtu.be/UHCeX27buug?si=5OcRqU31AFek1Wx2 5 Hawthorne Shootout Suspects Identified as Manson Followers https://www.cielodrive.com/archive/5-hawthorne-shootout-suspects-identified-as-manson-followers/ 'How crazy thinks': Understanding our strange fascination with Charles Manson https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/understanding-our-strange-fascination-with-charles-manson/9177328 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
#528
July 20 · 32 min
Episode 529: Bugliosi's Big Break
On the show this week we talk about the wild trial of Manson and the Family and ask if maybe Charlie was innocent? (He definitely wasn’t)
#528
July 6 · 32 min
Episode 528: Healter Skelter
On the show this week we get to the gory parts of the story as we cover the actual murders the Manson Family did.
June 29 · 27 min
Special Presentation: The Spirit of 76
From Tall Ships to Winnebagos, from fire hydrants to twenty five cents worth of history we explore all the way America celebrated 200 years!
#526
June 15 · 31 min
Episode 527: When You're Here, You're Family
On the show this week introduce the man mostly responsible for destroying the feel good vibe of the 1960s: Charles Manson.
#525
June 1 · 40 min
Episode 526: Going Through the Big D
On the show this week we follow JFK to Texas for the most important moment of his Presidency. (What? Too soon?)
#525
May 18 · 31 min
Episode 525: On Second Thought, Let's Not Go to Camelot
On the show this week we talk about JFK’s time in office, from the political to the poonhound. (Google recognized poonhound, that’s awesome.)
#524
May 4 · 30 min
Episode 524: Hey Joe? Where You Going With That Son In Your Hand?
On the show this week we present part one of the President who defined the Baby Boomer Generation, JFK. (We all know it was really Ronald Reagan.)
#523
April 20 · 30 min
Episode 523: If You're Going to San Francisco
On the show this week we examine the movement that embodied the 1960s, damn dirty hippies.
#522
April 6 · 31 min
Episode 522: Are You Experienced?
On the show this week we take a look at the influence of LSD and other hallucinogens on pop culture in the 1960s.
#521
March 23 · 31 min
Episode 521: I Trip, Ergot I Am
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.)
#518
March 9 · 33 min
Episode 520: Insert Beatles Song Here
On the show this week we examine the very loud phenomena of young women screaming over four British dudes, we talk about Beatlemania!
#519
February 23 · 36 min
Episode 519: Future So Bright, Gotta Wear Shades
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.)
#519
February 9 · 31 min
Episode 518: Crazy About A Mercury
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)
#517
January 26 · 39 min
Episode 517: Atom Bomb Baby
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.
January 12 · 34 min
Episode 516: Red, Red Whine
We start our generational pivot with the first leg of the tripod that holds up the Baby Boomers, the Red Scare!
Dec 22, 2025 · 29 min
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

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes