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.
1
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.
30 min
2
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!
26 min
3
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.
29 min
4
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?)
38 min
5
Episode 525: On Second Thought, Let's Not Go to...
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.)
29 min
6
Episode 524: Hey Joe? Where You Going With That...
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.)
28 min
7
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.
28 min
8
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.
29 min
9
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.)
29 min
10
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!
31 min
11
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.)
34 min
12
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)
29 min
13
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.
37 min
14
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!
32 min
15
Episode 430: Carl's Worst Xmas Redux
27 min
16
Episode 343: Frosty the Snow Ho Redux
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.)
28 min
17
Episode 515: Sodas In Spaaaaace!
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.
29 min
18
Episode 340: Wall to Wall and Tree Top Tall Redux
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.
31 min
19
Episode 87: Thanksgiving In Hell Total Redux
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.
20 min
20
Episode 259: We're Not Gonna Take It (Redux)
On the show this week we travel back to 1985 to examine the Parents Music Resource Council
30 min
21
Episode 514: Brooks Brothers Riot Daddy-O (Part...
On the show this week we head back to the 2000 Election and the court case that elected a President.
31 min
22
Episode 513: Ballot With Butterfly Wings (Part ...
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!)
29 min
23
Episode 512: Granny Are You OK? (Part 4 of Spoo...
On the show this week we wrap up Spooktacular 2025 99 Problems But A Witch Ain’t One with America’s own Granny Witches!
25 min
24
Episode 511: Something Wiccan This Way Comes (P...
On the show this week we look at the state of modern witchcraft when we talk about the Wiccans.
27 min
25
Episode 510: Smack My Witch Up Part 2 of Spookt...
On the show this week the Spooktacular takes us to witch panics and trials throughout history. (Modern included)
33 min