What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Show Notes Episode 401: It’s Morning Again In America Pt 2 of Reagan

This week Host Dave Bledsoe claims his overdue bar tabs are actually deficit spending and they are the only way we can stand up to Soviet dominance! (The bartender impeached his ass out of the bar) On the show this week talk about Reagan the President and his long lasting impact on America. (He broke it, so we bought it.)

Along the way we learn that Dave’s dad looks nothing like Richard Gere. Then we dive right in with the 1980 election, an election Reagan was always going to win, but he had to cheat anyway. (How very Nixon of him!) Then we take a look at what Ronnie promised he would do (Make America great again) and what he actually DID. (Make rich people great again.) We examine all the ways The Gipper ripped up the protections put in place to keep poisons out of our water, criminals out of our bank accounts and our bosses from fucking us over in pursuit of their buying a private jet. (They already had their yachts.) From there, we tell you how the entire Reagan expansion of the military was like a college student with their first credit card! (Only instead of a keg fridge, Ronnie bought aircraft carriers and space lasers.) Lastly, we breakdown why it worked (humans are very bad at long term thinking) and why we are still struggling with everything he did today. (Republicans are stupid and evil.)

Our Sponsor this week is The Timeline Where Jimmy Carter Won, it isn’t perfect but it is a hell of a lot better than where we are! We open the show with Reagan’s ‘84 campaign ad and close with The Valentine Brothers experiencing Reaganomics.

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

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/5W-2AK2zLZE

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

The evangelical presidency: Reagan's dangerous love affair with the Christian right

https://www.salon.com/2014/05/18/the_evangelical_presidency_reagans_dangerous_love_affair_with_the_christian_right/

Wikipedia: Reaganomics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics

What Reagan Has Done to America

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/what-reagan-has-done-to-america-79233/

‘A Nation at Risk’ demanded education reform 35 years ago. Here’s how it’s been bungled ever since.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/04/26/the-landmark-a-nation-at-risk-called-for-education-reform-35-years-ago-heres-how-it-was-bungled/

Reagan's Defense Buildup Bridged Military Eras

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2004/06/09/reagans-defense-buildup-bridged-military-eras/ec621466-b78e-4a2e-9f8a-50654e3f95fa/

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_United_States_presidential_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/what-reagan-has-done-to-america-79233/

https://theintercept.com/2021/08/06/middle-class-reagan-patco-strike/

https://patrickjuli.us/2016/01/20/how-reagan-ruined-america/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/column-how-reaganomics-deregulation-and-bailouts-led-to-the-rise-of-trump

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/nov/12/the-reagans-showtime-docuseries

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/03/did-reagan-teams-iran-hostage-sabotage-defeat-jimmy-carter.html

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Notes Episode 400: Win One for the Gipper (Reagan Pt 1)

This week Host Dave Bledsoe asks his “friends” to say a little something about four hundred episodes of this dumb podcast, and they do NOT disappoint! (We found him sobbing in the bathroom, again) On the show this week we FINALLY get around to talking about the 

Bête noire of the show, Ronald Reagan! (Insert Peter Griffin shouting “He Said It!”)

Along the way we learn that Dave was a Young Republican until he realized he would be one doing the bleeding and dying for the GOP. (He was a slow learner) Then we dive right into the back story of Ronald Wilson Reagan, from his time doing B List movies, to his lackluster military career, through his years stabbing his fellow actors in the back as president of the Screen Actors Guild, to his marriage to arch conservative but extremely skilled at oral Nancy Davis. We go on to chart his entry into politics and his time as governor of California fucking over poor people through his conniving to fuck over Dick Nixon and Gerry Ford. (Ronnie was back stabber, Nancy was a knob slobber)

Our Sponsor this week is the Simian Actors Guild, who want you to know they NEVER voted for the guy. We open the show with Reagan shivving Nixon and close with the Austin Lounge Lizards and their history of The Gipper.  

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

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/Dx1zJPuO_s8?t=23

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

No Method to His Madness

https://www.filmcomment.com/article/ronald-reagan-film-career-actor-president/

How Ronald Reagan’s Time at General Electric Pushed Him to Conservatism

https://lithub.com/how-ronald-reagans-time-at-general-electric-pushed-him-to-conservatism/

Wikipedia: Ronald Reagan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bonus Edition: Friends Going to Low Places

Host Dave Bledsoe asked his friends to give him their thoughts on 400 episodes of this dumb podcast.  They did not hesitate to give him the unvarnished truth.  The only thing harsher than his friends, was Chat GPT.  The AI was brutal.

A VERY special thanks to all of those who sent  us their thoughts on the show:  Kimberly Steele, Andrew Roedell, Sean Crespo and Carol Hartsell, Jerermy Balon, Amy Shepphard, CJ Oliver, John-Michael Bassett, Brett Hall, Jerrod Tracht, Ben Bennick and Chat GPT.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(Originally broadcast March 11th 2017)

SHOW NOTES Episode #100: “What the HELL Was I Thinking?”

This week Dave Bledsoe wakes up, stumbles past the empty whiskey bottles and takes a long look in the mirror and finally asks himself what the hell was he thinking? (Hint: I need to clean up all the empty bottles). On the show this week we look back at 100 Episode of a low rated podcast and what we’ve learned. (Hint: We need to get out of the house more.)

Along the way, we learn about the history of podcasting from the early form of Dave getting drunk and recording himself with his friends to a more evolved form of Dave getting drunk and recording himself alone. (It’s evolved because he learned it is cheaper to drink alone.) We also discover that the iPod was NOT the original name Steve Jobs preferred, we find that podcasts are where failed radio DJ’s go to die, and just that Dennis Miller deserves an Executive Producer credit on this show. (Sane Dennis Miller, not current Dennis.) We also look forward to the inevitable death of podcasting with a quiet, desperate longing.  

Our show is sponsored this week by all of sponsors, without whom you would be listening to a much better show. We open with Howard Stern’s wisdom on the podcast format and close with the Greatest American Hero. (Not Reagan, settle down!)

Citations Needed: Alas, we never knew ye, And now a word from our sponsors

Show Music: 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/

The Show on Soundcloud

www.whatthehellpodcast.com

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 399: Waco Me Up, Before You Go-Go (Pt 2 of the Waco Siege)

This week Host Dave Bledsoe flashes his old cop badge and informs the bartender he is the State Liquor Inspector and will need to check their Jameson for “quality assurance” (He was lucky he was only thrown out, not arrested) On the show this week we wrap up our two-parter on the Waco Siege with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (who sounds like a real fun bunch, but aren’t) and how the screwed up pretty much EVERYTHING!

Along the way we hear a little story about that one time where Dave got to be a hero, or something close. (We’re not saying he made it up, but we wouldn’t be surprised) Then we jump right into the way the country was in the early 1990’s and the Federal Government was making it worse. (Not to sound all Republican, but they REALLY were!) Then head down to Waco Texas (Technically, the Branch Davidian Compound was not IN Waco, more Waco adjacent!) where the ATF is looking into the activities of the Branch Davidians in the most painfully obvious ways possible. (They might as well have put a sign that read “ATF Stakeout In Progress”). Then we look at all the ways things went wrong before the raid ever happened. (We’re not saying all this WOULD have been avoided with a phone call, but it might have) Finally, we wrap up with a look at how Waco left the country and how its echoes sound today.

Our Sponsor this week is Spin Doctors, when your reputation is on life support, call in a specialist, call in Spin Doctors! We open the show with news footage from thirty years ago and close with the Middle Ages who are putting in a wakeup call for early tomorrow morning. 

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

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/PVmxXnqETBk

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

Tripped Up By Lies A report paints a devastating portrait of ATF's Waco planning -- or, rather, the lack of it

https://web.archive.org/web/20070930153817/http://www.time.com/time/daily/newsfiles/waco/101193.html

Wikipedia Waco Siege

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege

Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF Raid at Waco, Texas

https://web.archive.org/web/20131108094342/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/waco_raid/index.html

 Waco Must Get a Hearing

https://web.archive.org/web/20110713105220/http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/04/19/waco-rip/

What Really Happened at Waco

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/what-really-happened-at-waco/

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://www.atf.gov/our-history/remembering-waco

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-waco-atf/ex-atf-agents-recall-storm-of-gunfire-in-deadly-1993-waco-raid-idUSBRE9170JC20130208

https://apnews.com/article/4fc8745f6c835ce802ad68ee054aef0e

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-waco-raid-at-25-enough-with-the-fabulist-lies

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-106hrpt1037/html/CRPT-106hrpt1037.htm

https://abcnews.go.com/US/atf-agents-fatal-1993-waco-raid-describe-barrage/story?id=52148324

https://robertbryce.com/killing-the-messenger-whos-really-to-blame-for-the-botched-raid-in-waco/

https://www.justice.gov/archives/publications/waco/report-deputy-attorney-general-events-waco-texas-prosecutions

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Notes Episode 397: All Bun, No Beef

This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes on a date only to have it end badly when he experiences a “Clara Peller Moment”. (He claimed it was a very cold evening.) On the show this week we head back to 1984 when America had our hearts stolen by a crank octogenarian demanding to know where the beef was kept! That’s right, we talk Clara Peller and Where’s the Beef!

Along the way we learn that despite not eating fast food for almost four years, Dave was somehow still fat! (He claims he was just “big boned", his latest date would beg to differ!) Then we dive right into the history of a totally different Dave, a Dave with a dream that did not involve a specific brand of Irish whiskey, Dave Thomas. We learn how Wendy’s went from a plucky upstart to the third largest burger chain in the United States. Moreover, we learn how Wendy’s had a plan to take on the Clown and King and become Number One! How? With the Platonic Ideal of the Little Old Lady. We chart Clara’s improbable rise from Chicago manicurist to national overnight sensation! (They were wearing her face at football games!) Finally, we discuss how it all ended over a jar of spaghetti sauce. (As these things so often do)

Our Sponsor this week is Meef, a meat substitute that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike meat! We open with Clara Peller’s star turn commercial and close with Clare and Coyote McCloud demanding to know where the HELL is the beef!

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

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/bdq6TZwepg0

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

FOUNDING WENDY'S

https://www.wendys.com/who-we-are-daves-legacy-founding-wendys

“Where’s the Beef?” The Story of the Most Famous Slogan Ever

https://bettermarketing.pub/wheres-the-beef-the-story-of-the-most-famous-slogan-ever-550d3f0c48c

FEISTY CLARA PELLER, 86; `WHERE`S THE BEEF?` LADY

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-08-12-8703010403-story.html

Wikipedia: Clara Peller 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Peller

Face the Nation

https://youtu.be/K6a-FLKMxUs

Clara Peller, the Actress In 'Where's the Beef?' TV Ad

https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/12/obituaries/clara-peller-the-actress-in-where-s-the-beef-tv-ad.html

WHERE'S THE JOB? CLARA FIRED FOR MAKING SPAGHETTI SAUCE AD

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1985-03-23-8501110180-story.html

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/639775/clara-peller-wendys-wheres-the-beef-lady

https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1267167-clara-peller?language=en-US

https://www.discogs.com/release/9267805-Coyote-McCloud-Featuring-Clara-Peller-Wheres-The-Beef

https://www.campaignlive.com/article/history-advertising-no-182-clara-pellers-hamburger/1421235

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27s_the_beef%3F#:~:text=%22Where's%20the%20beef%3F%22%20is,idea%2C%20event%2C%20or%20product.

https://www.wideopeneats.com/wheres-the-beef/

https://onlykutts.com/index.php/2021/10/07/wendys-wheres-the-beef/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/the-inside-story-of-wendys-wheres-the-beef-ad-140051010.html

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/2018/01/10/on-this-date-wendys-first-asked-wheres-the-beef/

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/10/how-wendys-1984-wheres-beef-commercial.html

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Notes Episode 396: BALLOONS! Menace from Above!

This week, Host Dave Bledsoe ducks his bill collectors by huffing helium and pretends to be a child when he answers the phone. (He could let it go to voicemail). On the show this week we examine the existential threat of the most dangerous flying object ever devised: The Balloon! (Someone tell the Montgolfier Brothers they finally made it!)

Along the way we discover that Dave had no friends as a child. (Shocker, we know) Then we provide you with three tales of perfidy and panic all created by the diabolical auspices of the BALLOON! Beware listeners, you cannot know how heinous these latex harbingers of doom truly can be! 

From the deserts of New Mexico, to the sunny skies of Southern California all the way to the shores of Lake Eerie, the Balloon Threat has terrorized and intimidated innocent Americans guilty of nothing more than living their lives! Why do these inflated horrors hate us with such unmitigated passions, we may know never. All we know is that Balloons are an existential threat! (Trust us, we did the research)

Our Sponsor this week is Helium, so much more than a way to make your voice sound silly. We open the show with a dangerous toy from the 1980’s and close with Kaye and Rob attempting to lure you into their death machine! 

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

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/RvnjKIbLRKw

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

In 1947, A High-Altitude Balloon Crash Landed in Roswell. The Aliens Never Left

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/in-1947-high-altitude-balloon-crash-landed-roswell-aliens-never-left-180963917/

Lawn Chair Larry 1982 Honorable Mention Confirmed True by Darwin

https://darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid1998-11.html

Late Night with David Letterman July 12, 1982

https://youtu.be/FtdLo1Mug8A

Wikipedia: Lawnchair Larry flight

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight

Cleveland marks 35 years since 1.5 million balloons fell on city in disastrous balloonfest

https://www.wivb.com/news/cleveland-marks-35-years-since-1-5-million-balloons-fell-on-city-in-disastrous-balloonfest/

Wikipedia: Balloonfest ‘86

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloonfest_%2786

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Show Notes Episode 395: America Onthropocene

This week Host Dave Bledsoe goes looking for love by staggering up to a bachelorette party and slurring Age/Sex/Location to the bride. (The bruises are finally starting to fade.) On the show this week are talking about how America went online with a little dial up service called Q-Link! You might know it better by its later name: American Online. (Or, just AOL)

Along the way we find out that Dave was a Wordstar Wizard! (He earned an Air Force medal for his brave embrace of DOS based software!) Then we dive right into the history of how people downloaded porn from the Internet before their phones. (Those ASCII nudes were HOT!) Then we get on the story of two General Electric employees who had a dream that computers could be used for more than designing microwaves! Eventually, they sold their dream to a company that let you connect your Atari 2600 to a server and download a game. (You only got to keep the game for a week, and it took longer than that to download.) From there we explain how AOL came to dominate the Online Service Provider field by blanketing the landscape with one BILLION Compact Discs! Finally, we chart the slow, painful demise of AOL as the company committed one stupid move after another until it became irrelevant. (Kind of like Facebook is doing right now with that whole Meta thing!)

Our Sponsor this week is Duane’s Dial Up, keeping kids safe from the internet by keeping them at 56.6 kbps! We open the show with an explainer on this new “online thing” and close with Bob River’s frustrations trying to connect to AOL.

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

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/G6tRQsfueoc

We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/

Citations Needed:

What is a walled garden on the internet?

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/walled-garden#:~:text=On%20the%20internet%2C%20a%20walled,prevent%20access%20to%20other%20material.

The Lamest Things About The Early Internet Era

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/10/worst-things-about-early-internet-years

You've Got Mail: A History of AOL's Free Trial CDs

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/87291/youve-got-mail-history-aols-free-trial-cds

Hollywood Flashback: Time Warner, AOL Entered a Doomed $182 Billion Alliance 20 Years Ago

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-flashback-time-warner-aol-entered-a-doomed-182-billion-alliance-20-years-1267322/

What happened to AOL? Here's the fascinating story behind America Online

https://slidebean.com/story/does-aol-still-exist#:~:text=AOL%20was%20unable%20to%20change&text=It%20focused%20on%20dial%2Dup,but%20only%203%25%20had%20broadband.

About 1.5 million people still pay for AOL — but now they get tech support and identity theft services instead of dial-up internet

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/03/aol-1point5-million-people-still-pay-for-service-but-not-for-dial-up-internet.html

Uncited Additional Reading: 

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/12/8594049/aol-free-trial-cds#:~:text=1%20billion%20CDs%20with%20free%20trial%20software.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL#:~:text=The%20service%20traces%20its%20history,as%20America%20Online%20in%201989.

https://www.wired.com/1995/09/aol-2/

https://web.archive.org/web/20180627202125/http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-verizon-buys-faded-internet-pioneer-aol-for-4.4-bn-2015-5?IR=T

https://techcrunch.com/2010/12/27/aol-discs-90s/

https://money.cnn.com/1996/11/25/technology/excite/

https://searchengineland.com/history-of-aol-search-11634

https://money.cnn.com/1996/11/01/technology/aol/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices