1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: We often use the term ahead of their time to 7 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: describe people who made great breakthroughs in arts or science. 8 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of his time, as was 9 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: Galileo Galilei. They're people whose contributions to our world will 10 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: always be celebrated, but those are the lucky ones. Sometimes 11 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: being ahead of your time means no one will understand 12 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: you until long after you're gone. In January two thousand 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: and four, music historian David Garland aired a special episode 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: of his New York radio show Spinning on Air. He 15 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: was interviewing Gene Deeci, a former denizen of Greenwich Village. 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: In the nineteen sixties, Gene spent a lot of time 17 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: making amateur recordings of up and coming folk and rock musicians. 18 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: During the show, Gene played an old tape that he'd 19 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: made of a friend of his in the nineteen fifties 20 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: an aspiring folk singer songwriter named Connie Converse. The music 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: was startlingly modern, sounding like a singer songwriter, but coming 22 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: from years before that style was popular. It paired acoustic 23 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: guitar with Connie's witty, poetic lyrics. The songs were often 24 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: tinged with a melancholy minor. It sounded like something Bob 25 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,839 Speaker 1: Dylan or Joni Mitchell would record, just several years before 26 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: either of them had started writing music. Listeners were hooked, 27 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: but they walked away from the broadcast with more questions 28 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: than answers. As Gene explained, the woman who made those 29 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: haunting songs couldn't be reached for comment, as she had 30 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: been missing for thirty years. Connie Converse was born Elizabeth 31 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: Converse on August third of nineteen twenty four in Laconia, 32 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: New Hampshire. She grew up in a religious household with 33 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: a minister father, but early on began to lean towards 34 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: a more bohemian lifestyle. In nineteen forty five, when she 35 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: was twenty one years old, she dropped out of college 36 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,399 Speaker 1: to move to New York City. There, she started smoking 37 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: and drinking, writing songs, and going by the name Connie. 38 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: She was an intensely private person and didn't perform at 39 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: the coffee shops and speakeasies in Greenwich Village, but she 40 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: did do small concerts at parties and in friends living rooms, 41 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: and gained a fan base among musicians there, like future 42 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,239 Speaker 1: folk star Pete Seeger, and Connie knew that she didn't 43 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: fit the mold of what record companies were looking for. 44 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: She wrote to her brother about going to auditions and 45 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: sending in demo recordings to executives, always receiving the same 46 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: inevitable reply. Her music was lovely, but not commercial. The 47 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: closest Connie ever came to breaking through was a single 48 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: TV appearance on a CBS morning show in nineteen fifty four. 49 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: She performed for Walter Cronkite, but still couldn't get a 50 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: record executive to call her back. After years of rejection, 51 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: she finally decided to give up on her dream of 52 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: a music career, and in nineteen sixty one, she moved 53 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,839 Speaker 1: in with her brother in ann Arbor, Michigan. Once there, 54 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,399 Speaker 1: she quickly found work as an editor for a scholarly 55 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: journal on conflict resolution. She threw herself into anti war 56 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: activism and life at the university, but it must have 57 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: been difficult to see the explosion of music just like 58 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: hers in New York right after she left the city. 59 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: For example, Bob Dylan moved to New York the same 60 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: year she left. Two years later, he had a massive 61 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: singer songwriter full kit with his nineteen sixty three album 62 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: The Freewheel In Bob Dylan. Connie worked in ann Arbor 63 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: for the next decade or so. Her music from her 64 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: time in New York relegated to tapes that her brother 65 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: kept in storage. She grew increasingly frustrated with her life there, though, 66 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: and incredibly depressed. By nineteen seventy four, she decided to leave. 67 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: She left a bundle of letters telling her friends and 68 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: family she was starting a new life, piled all of 69 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: her possessions into her Volkswagen Beetle, and drove off into 70 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: the sunset. Now, whether Connie truly did move somewhere else, 71 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: or had an accident or ended her own life, Connie's 72 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: family couldn't tell. Though her brother hired private investigators, he 73 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,799 Speaker 1: heard no word from Connie for the next thirty years, 74 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: not until Gene Deach played her unreleased Kitchen recordings on 75 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: the radio. In the years since, it seems Connie has 76 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: finally found her audience. After that two thousand and four 77 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: radio broadcast, two audio engineers approached Gene Deach and were 78 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: able to release an album of Connie's songs in two 79 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: thousand and nine, and in twenty twenty three, a brand 80 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: new album was released called Music's It was an album 81 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: Connie recorded and arranged herself back in nineteen fifty six. 82 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: Plenty of artists never see success in their own time, 83 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,679 Speaker 1: but luckily for Connie, it seems her music is finally 84 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: getting a long awaited reprise. Who doesn't love a good 85 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: hot shower to kick off the day, or maybe you're 86 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: an evening bather. Either way, taking a few minutes to 87 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: relax and clean our bodies is more than just good hygiene. 88 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: Research shows that beyond keeping our skin and hair clean 89 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: from dirt and germs, regular bathing promotes exfoliation, leads to 90 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: improved sleep, and even has mental health benefits. It's just 91 00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: about the most basic form of self care we practice, 92 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: and we treat it like a sacred ritual. Studies show 93 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: that sixty six percent of Americans bathe once a day. 94 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: That's technically more than what's recommended two or three times 95 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,239 Speaker 1: a week is ideal, but we can't seem to get enough. 96 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: At least most of us can't. There are always exceptions, 97 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: like one man from southern Iran who didn't bathe for 98 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: over six decades, earning himself a tie of the world's 99 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: dirtiest man. The locals call him a moo Hadjie. A 100 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: moo is a far Sea word for uncle, but it's 101 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: often used as an affectionate term for elderly men, sort 102 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: of like old Timer. No one in his village knew 103 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: Uncle Hadjee's full name or what happened to his family. 104 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: He was an old nomad who lived on the edge 105 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: of town. He had refused to bathe for years, and 106 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: was always caked in so much dirt and soot that 107 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,679 Speaker 1: he was almost indistinguishable from the rocky landscape. When asked 108 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: why he became a drifter, he would only say that 109 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: he had gone through some emotional setbacks when he was younger. 110 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: It seems that when he was in his early twenties, 111 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: he developed a crippling fear of soap and water. He 112 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: stopped bathing entirely and embraced celibacy and a nomadic lifestyle, 113 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: and while never washing was his most defining characteristic, it 114 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: was only the start of his unhygienic behavior. He liked 115 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: to eat rotting porcupines, scraped off the road, and smoked 116 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 1: animal dung from a pipe. When his hair or beard 117 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: got too long, he burned it over a fire rather 118 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,479 Speaker 1: than cutting it. When it got cold, he donned an 119 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: old military helmet instead of a coat. He did have 120 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: one healthy habit, though, while he avoided letting it touch 121 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: his skin, he drank over five liters of water every day. Still, 122 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: it's not ideal that he collected that water in a 123 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: rusty oil tin. Now. Despite choosing to live in isolation, 124 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: by most accounts, Uncle Hajie had a joyful, friendly disposition. 125 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: The local community tried their best to take care of him, 126 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: which led to frustrations when he refused to change his ways. 127 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: He grew irritated whenever people pressured him to stop eating 128 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: rotten food or drinking filthy water. He did let the 129 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: villagers build him a cinder block house to live in, 130 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: but he still preferred to sleep outside in a shallow 131 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: hole that he had dug in the ground. At one point, 132 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,239 Speaker 1: a group of young men even captured him and tried 133 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: to force him to shower, but he narrowly managed to escape. 134 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,559 Speaker 1: It's tempting to judge someone like Uncle Hadjie, mostly because 135 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: of how irrational and uncomfortable his lifestyle scenes. Modern science 136 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: tells us that poor hygiene can lead to all kinds 137 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: of unwonted conditions, from diarrhea and lice to blindness, and 138 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: it's not just dangerous. Failing to adhere to social expectations 139 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: of cleanliness risks driving people away, alienating them from their neighbors. 140 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: Some psychologists think that what he suffered from was alblutophobia, 141 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: the irrational fear of bathing and water. Like many anxiety disorders, 142 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: coming in contact with the subject of the phobia can 143 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: cause intense, elevated heartbeat, difficulty breathing, and panic attacks. With 144 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: that in mind, it makes more sense why he might 145 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: have avoided soap and water for as long as he did. 146 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: But even if most people would consider his lifestyle irrational, 147 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: it's hard to argue that it worked for him. In 148 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, he finally relented by taking a bath 149 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: for the first time in roughly sixty five years. Only 150 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: a few months later, he passed away at the extremely 151 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 1: ripe old age of ninety four. I'm not saying that 152 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,959 Speaker 1: makes him right, but it does make you wonder. It 153 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: might even get you to forego that daily sholler, maybe 154 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: just this once. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 155 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 156 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 157 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 158 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 159 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,079 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 160 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 161 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 162 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: stay curious.