What The Hell Were You Thinking

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

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 co

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://

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 fucking 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

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. (Forg

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

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!!)

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 o

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

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 shitty 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 heartwar

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 spa

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 fucking 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 w

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 wi

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

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!

Episode 513: Ballot With Butterfly Wings Part 1 of the 2020 Election This week host Dave Bledsoe got kicked out of an Andrew Cuomo election rally for constantly drunkenly screaming “Andy, let’s go pick up some bitches!” (Again) On the show this week we turn the clock back twenty five years to the election that broke America. (We could have had a Lockbox!) Along the way we learn that Dave voted for Ralph Nader. (What an asshole) Then we dig into why we have an Electoral College. (Slavery.) From there we meet the men who were vying to lead the country into the 21st Century, one a boring politician and the other a dumbass fratboy with a drinking problem and a famous last name. From there we head to Florida for an explanation of why Florida is like it is. (Weird, filled with old people and alligators).  We discuss the election night faux pas that left the media with egg on its face and shit in their nickers. Then we take a listen to the recently discovered recording of Al Gore’s retracted concession speech to

Show Notes Episode 512: Granny Are You OK? Part 4 of Spooktacular 2025 This week Host Dave Bledsoe was arrested for setting up a moonshine still next to the Loch in Central Park, he claimed he was merely celebrating his people’s culture.  (Sure, Dave) On the show this week we wrap up Spooktacular 2025 99 Problems But A Witch Ain’t One with America’s own Granny Witches!  Along the way we discover Dave’s complicated relationship with his grandmother. (It’s complicated) Then we head over to Northern Ireland for only LOOKS like a digression, before heading back to the New World with the folks that used to live in Northern Ireland.  We follow the Scotch Irish as they head west into the mountains and create a culture that is both complex and fully hillbilly. Then jump ahead to modernity where some people pretend they know how to cure the gout with a hogs tooth and henbane. (Use rectally) Finally we wrap up the entire Spooktacular with Dave explaining in fact, a witch WAS one of his ninety-nine problems. Our Spo

Show Notes Episode 511: Something Wiccan This Way Comes Part 3 of Spooktacular 2025 This week Host Dave Bledsoe was arrested at the Lizard Lounge in Bohemia for getting hammered, stripping off all his clothes and proclaiming he was performing Witchy Woman by the Eagles “skyclad”. (Again) On the show this week we look at the state of modern witchcraft when we talk about the Wiccans. Along the way we learn that Dave DID try not be a godless heathen. (Just not very hard.) Then we dive right into that time the Romans did some Roman shit to people in what would become Wales. (Somehow, this IS relevant) before coming back to talk about an English Post Clerk who decided that pretending to believe in witchcraft might get him laid. (Unfair and untrue, Gerald was probably ACE) Then we follow the rise of Wicca as a religion as it spread around the world in the 70s until it exploded in the late 90s. (Alyson Hannigan was just so damn cute!) We explain how Wicca got popular then Hollywood made it suck and how Wicca is t

Show Notes Episode 510: “Smack My Witch Up” Part Two of Spooktacular 2025 This week Host Dave Bledsoe got drunk and lost in a Haunted Corn Maze and terrified an entire Church Group when he stumbled out without any pants. (Again) On the show this week the Spooktacular takes us to witch panics and trials throughout history. (Modern included) Along the way we learn Dave considered himself a victim of witch hunt because he was accused of trying to sleep with college age women. (Which he was definitely doing.) Then we move right into the Protestant Reformation, which reformed Europe into a WHOLE bunch of brutality wars. (Not that they needed an excuse.) Then we dig into how random old women with skin conditions were accused of sexual liaisons with demons all over Europe and America.  (Warts are a demon turn on) We turn to the colonies to learn how and why Salem was a hot bed of witch activity and why it stopped. (Religion and Money.  Spoiler alert.) Finally we examine the status of witch hunts today. Our Spo

Episode 509: Shaman Me? Shaman You! This week Host Dave Bledsoe visited the Old Wise Woman at the edge of the village for herbs that would help him experience enlightenment.  (Meaning he bought some weed at an unlicensed dispensary.) Along the way we learn that Dave was scared by an old lesbian when he was a kid.  (Lesbians are nothing to be afraid of!) Then we dive right in by dispelling some myths about the matriarchy.  From there we explore the role of the shaman in pre-history and how they were much more than just some dudes with horned masks and good weed. (A lot of them had shrooms as well!) We discuss how the tribal shaman became the village healer once humanity settled down to an agrarian lifestyle and how important they were in society for over a thousand years.  We wrap up with why they went from a vital part of rural life to demonic sin peddlers.  (Yep, it was capitalism!) Our Sponsor this week is the Herb Hut, don’t cast your spells without us! We open with Christine O’Donnell who wants us to k