What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Show Notes Episode 504: We Will Always Have Paris

This week Host Dave Bledsoe gate crashed a celebrity event by carrying a camera and claiming he was “with the media” just to get access to the open bar. (The only photo taken was his mugshot. Again.) On the show this week we pick up with Chuck and Diane after their fairy tale wedding and following it to its tragic conclusion of Chuck wishing he were a tampon.

Along the way we discover why Dave never had any children. (He doesn’t like them and women don’t like him.) Then we dive right into why Chuck chose the crown over love because of his great uncle Eddie. From there we learn how neither of our two love birds really tried all THAT hard to make it work. (A lot easier to have affairs.) We see their marriage through to the bitter end and then we discuss Diana’s bitter end in a Paris tunnel.  Do we talk about how the Queen and MI6 are responsible? Of COURSE we do!

Our Sponsor this week is The Firm, you can check out any time you like but only WE say when you can leave.  We open the show with new coverage of the fateful night that broke the world's heart and close with Alexander Mills with some traffic safety tips. (And it is still better than our first choice)

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/pvX4khWrFt8?si=lA8t-OHrvow5WXPn

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Citations Needed: 

Prince Charles Found This Aspect of His Marriage to Princess Diana “Very Difficult to Cope With”

https://www.instyle.com/prince-charles-found-marriage-princess-diana-difficult-cope-with-11700298

A Timeline of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s Tumultuous, Tragic Relationship

https://www.vogue.com/article/a-timeline-of-prince-charles-and-princess-dianas-tumultuous-tragic-relationship

In pictures: how the world mourned and marked Princess Diana’s death

https://theweek.com/news/society/957790/how-the-world-mourned-princess-diana-death

Elton John's Diana tribute among most hated hits

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1313402/Elton-Johns-Diana-tribute-among-most-hated-hits.html?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first

'The Express' and Diana: Cover-ups, spies and conspiracies

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-express-and-diana-coverups-spies-and-conspiracies-429277.html

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Show Notes Episode 503: Little Ditty About Chuck and Diane

This week Host Dave Bledsoe found himself officiating a wedding for complete strangers after he showed up drunk dressed as fat Elvis.  (This happens more than you might imagine.) On the show this week we head back to 1981 for the Wedding that captured America’s heart, Luke and Laura! (Kidding, we mean Charles and Diana!)

Along the way we discover why Dave never married but performed the wedding of so many people.  (Two Words: Open Bar) Then we dive right in with the history of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. (You know them better as the Windsors, the Royal Family of the UK.) Then we move along to a young man who only wanted to ride his Polo Ponies, pretend to be in the Royal Navy and bang this hot chick named Camilla. (She was pretty tasty back in the day!) Later, we learn how his granny made him marry a kindergarten teacher way younger than he was! From there we follow along as the whole world falls in love with the two in a way that Lady Diana could only wish Charles loved her! Finally, we examine the peculiar relationship us Yanks had with the royals and ceremonies!

Our Sponsor this week is Reality Weddings, because you have to be realistic about these things.  We open with coverage from 1981 and close with a horrible karaoke singer doing a parody song!

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

The Show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/whatthehellpodcast.bsky.social

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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

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Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/okyHgnVgiC8?si=8hexKv_JXXIaiB5A

Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop

Citations Needed: 

Princess Diana

https://www.biography.com/royalty/princess-diana

Legacy of Diana and the British Press

https://niemanreports.org/legacy-of-diana-and-the-british-press/

A Ringside Seat at the Weddinghttps://web.archive.org/web/20240213111957/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1947/12/06/a-ringside-seat-at-the-wedding

From the archives: Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/nation-world/2017/08/27/archives-prince-charles-and-princess-diana-s-wedding/15770534007/

Why Americans are obsessed with the British royal family

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/29/us/royal-wedding-us-interest-meghan-harry-intl

Wikipedia July 1981

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_1981

What's the most horrific thing you've seen?

https://b3ta.com/questions/horriblesights/post83204

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Summer Series is over, and we have a lot empty spaces to fill before Spooktacular in October. So naturally, Dave is nowhere to be found. (If you see him an Upstate dive bar, please call us!) So we are giving you this redux/megamix of two episodes from 2024 about Heaven's Gate. If you haven't heard it, it's new to you!

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Show Notes Episode 502: Way Down In Kosovo

Part 4 of Summer Series 2025

This week Host Dave Bledsoe was savagely ejected from a bar in the Little Serbia neighborhood of Queens when he ordered a Belgrade Car Bomb. (Yes, there is a Little Serbia in Ridgewood Queens) On the show this week we finished up the Summer Series with that time the United States bombed the Balkans because the President couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. We talk about 1999’s Operation Allied Force in Kosovo.

Along the way we hear about yet another time Dave almost got kicked out of the military but didn’t. (It’s like they never should have let him in!) Then discover why the Balkans is such a trouble spot in Europe. (Colonialism, but in this case, Roman Empire colonialism.) Then we dive right into post World War Two Yugoslavia. (Do we mention the car, you know that we do!) and how this created a lot of people in a small area who all hated each other's guts.  When the Berlin Wall dropped, followed by the dropping of Bill Clinton’s trousers, the US and our NATO allies found ourselves blowing up some huts and bombing some schools! (Don’t worry, a lot of them were Muslim schools!) Finally we examine why doing the right thing for the wrong reasons kind of nullifies doing the right thing.

Our Sponsor this week is Safe-Tern,we find interns you won’t WANT to have sex with!  We open the show with Bill explaining where and why we are bombing and close with Talon Sei demonstrating why Ska can turn even the worst song into something GREAT! 

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/TDDC7-Ymfeg?si=nA5xcFZ8YSlFoCOq&t=481

Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop

Citations Needed:

‘It’s getting out of hand’: genocide denial outlawed in Bosnia

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/24/genocide-denial-outlawed-bosnia-srebrenica-office-high-representative

Wikipedia: Operation Deliberate Force

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

The Kosovo War in Retrospect

https://warontherocks.com/2019/03/the-kosovo-war-in-retrospect/

From Watergate to Monicagate

https://archive.org/details/fromwatergatetom00foer/page/132/mode/2up

Where’s the Evidence of Genocide of Kosovar Albanians?

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-29-me-27493-story.html

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Show Notes Episode 501: Operation Just Because

Pt 3 of Summer Series 2025

This week host Dave Bledsoe drunkenly demands someone liberate him from the tyranny of paying for his own drinks only to find the pee of liberty can only be watered with cash from drunk podcasters. (Again) On the show this week Summer Series 2025 continues with the Most Expensive Drug Raid in History, the US invasion of Panama in 1989.

Along the way we learn why Dave never made it to the military major leagues (he was fat, drunk, slacker). Then we dive into a brief history of Panama, from Spanish Empire’s dream of the shortcut to the Pacific, to the French dream of a short cut to the Pacific to the Americans saying fucking, we’ll dig our way to the Pacific. (and kill a bunch of people doing so!) Then we meet Manuel Antonio Noriega, Panamanian military officer, CIA asset and drug kingpin and how finally stopped being useful to the CIA. (Reagan left office) Then we learn how George HW Bush got sick of Manny’s shit and launched a legally dubious military action to arrest (and prove to America he wasn’t a wimp!)

Our Sponsor this week is Blue Spoon Military Marketing, make the most of your illegal invasion with a catchy Operation Name to rally the folks back home with Blue Spoon!  We open with Poppy Bush explaining why we have to invade Panama and close with Patty PerShayla who sings about Panama.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/6sHNd_2F0es?si=dW9olPdwnrR5Gy5h

Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop

Citations Needed:

Operation Just Cause

https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Monographs/Just_Cause.pdf

How Manuel Noriega surrendered to the sanity-destroying power of mallrat music

https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2017/may/30/noriega-panama-music-playlist

Music To Annoy Dictator and Priest With

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0VGlbfQvcSXggt2r2gYrun?si=fsfY_Sp0T76XakOPKTz7CQ

Bush plays only some cards right

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/01/23/bush-plays-only-some-cards-right/

The Noriega Case: Public Opinion;   Panamanians Strongly Back U.S. Move

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/06/us/the-noriega-case-public-opinion-panamanians-strongly-back-us-move.html

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Show Notes Episode 500(!): Who's Afraid of Grenada?

Part 2 of Summer Series 2025

This week Host Dave Bledsoe dressed up in his old Air Force dress uniform and staggered into a bar insisting he was there to “liberate” the Jameson. (His invasion was repulsed by an annoyed bouncer) On the show this week part two of Summer Series 2025 “You Can Have A Little War, As A Treat” continues with 1983’s Invasion of Grenada.

Along the way we discover that Dave may have covered up a brutal murder in the late 1980’s. (Admittedly, the victim was a swan.) Then we dive right into the history of the tiny island nation of Grenada, from its discovery by Columbus, to colonization by the French and the British. From there we discuss how the long claws of Communism grabbed the peaceful island via the construction of an airport. (That was actually paid for by the United Kingdom.) Then we learn why Ronald Reagan sent thousands of US Troops to “rescue” some perfectly safe medical students. (Hint: It was politically expedient.)

Our Sponsor this week is the Grenada Tourism Board, who invite you to try a little Pure Grenada! We open the show with news from 1983 and close with Berbice who loves his island.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/goEb2ll6yYo?si=PcnTBG6jZH40Unj0

Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop

Citations Needed:

Address by Prime Minister Maurice Bishop of Grenada (10 October 1979)

https://web.archive.org/web/20081006090208/http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/carriers-torch/3103-maurice-bishop-speech-34th-general-assembly-united-nations-new-york.html

Wikipedia: Maurice Bishop

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

Touching Down in Granada

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/26/us/briefing-058430.html

Wikipedia: United States invasion of Grenada

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

Grenada Invasion: History and Significance

https://www.thoughtco.com/grenada-invasion-4571025

TRAPPED IN THE INVASION OF GRENADA

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/30/nyregion/trapped-in-the-invasion-of-grenada.html

STUDENTS REFLECT ON GRENADA INVASION

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/06/nyregion/students-reflect-on-grenada-invasion.html

National archives: Reagan blindsided Thatcher over 1983 Grenada invasion

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/01/margaret-thatcher-reagan-grenada-invasion-national-archives

Grenada Move Earns Reagan Broad Political Gains, Poll Shows

https://web.archive.org/web/20240709084950/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/11/09/grenada-move-earns-reagan-broad-political-gains-poll-shows/6c7b2ecd-5c9c-4aea-946c-408eef6b61a6/

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Show Notes Episode 499.5: “Was It Something We Said?”

Part 1 of Summer Series 2025

This week Host Dave Bledsoe attempts to convince the other barflies to stage a coup against the bartender and take over the bar for themselves. (Turns out three old drunks against one bartender lose every time.) On the show this week we kick off Summer Series 2025 “You Can Have A LIttle War, As A Treat” with the prelude of all the little wars, the Iran Hostage Crisis.

Along the way we discover that Dave is not one to hold a grudge. (A lot of time he can’t remember why he was even mad, mostly because he blacked out. Again.) Then we dive into the long history of Iran, from the Persian Empire to the Islamic Republic.  We discover that Iranians have some pretty good reasons for not liking America. (Sorry about that coup thing) Then we dip into how a deposed king dying of cancer led to Ronald Reagan getting elected and four decades of increasingly bad relations with Iran.  FInally we draw a tenuous connection between Iran and the topic of our Summer Series.

Our Sponsor this week is The Special Relationship, even when it is a really bad idea, we stand together.  We open our show with news coverage of the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and close Vince Vance offering foreign policy advice.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast

The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: https://youtu.be/O_LmLlh_bS4?si=SaOatHy7sjujSJ0k

Buy Our Stuff: https://www.seltzerkings.com/shop

Citations Needed:

Nothing new in the world

https://web.archive.org/web/20040915080838/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FI15Ak03.html

The Reason Iran Turned Out to Be So Repressive

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/iran-mahsa-amini-protests-islam-ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini/671624/

Wikipedia Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

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

The Iran Hostage Crisis

https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2021/11/29/the-iran-hostage-crisis/

Jimmy Carter and the Iran Hostage Crisis

https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/jimmy-carter-and-the-iran-hostage-crisis

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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!

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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!

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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 dive into the nitty gritty of what it took to make ten years of the show. (Never before has so much been written to be heard by so few people) Then we learn where the show is going in the next ten years.  (Rehab, it needs to be rehab!) Then we premiered the trailer for Summer Series 2025! 

Our Sponsor this week is The People Behind the Show, we open with a Podcast Boom and Close with the Chubby Blue Line, because why not? 

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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The Show Line: 347 687 9601

Closing Music: Hoyt Axton Mitchell (Sorry no video)

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