Summary
Overview
Ash and Alena dive into the mysterious history of encephalitis lethargica, also known as 'the sleeping sickness' or 'La Nona.' This bizarre epidemic emerged during World War I, affecting nearly one million people between 1917-1930 with terrifying and varied symptoms including uncontrollable sleep, facial paralysis frozen in horror, catatonic states, and bizarre movements. Despite groundbreaking neurological discoveries made while studying it, the disease remains unexplained to this day, and after mysteriously disappearing in the 1930s, its cause and cure are still unknown.
Personal Updates and Life Hacks
The hosts share their recent activities and wellness routines. Ash discusses her social exhaustion from a busy weekend while Alena describes her surprise birthday dinner. They exchange tips for romanticizing daily life, with Ash recommending playing slow Gatsby-era jazz during morning routines and Alena sharing her nighttime spa shower ritual. Both emphasize using fancy items daily and creating special moments out of ordinary activities, noting positive effects on their wellbeing tracked by Ash's Aura ring.
- Ash feels overtired from unusual amount of socializing over the weekend
- John planned a surprise birthday dinner for Alena with a custom menu
- Ash recommends playing slow Gatsby-esque jazz in the morning while making coffee to romanticize your day
- Alena does nighttime showers with candles and spa music, which her Aura ring confirms improves her heart rate
" Don't save shit. What are you saving it for? For what? Don't save it. Every day is a fucking event, all right? You're alive. We live in a hellscape. Let's just make everything romantic and a big deal. "
" You could literally die tomorrow. And you didn't wear the fancy thing. "
Introduction to Encephalitis Lethargica
The episode transitions to the main topic: encephalitis lethargica, a mysterious illness from the early 1900s known as 'the sleeping sickness' or 'La Nona' (the grandmother). Ash previews the bizarre nature of this disease, including one of its most disturbing symptoms where victims' faces would freeze in expressions of horror. This illness emerged during World War I and remains largely unexplained despite affecting nearly a million people.
- The disease was called 'the sleeping sickness' or 'La Nona' (the grandmother) and had wildly varying symptoms
- One symptom involved going catatonic with face frozen in a look of horror
- Dr. Constantine von Economo began treating unusual cases at his Vienna psychiatric clinic in 1916
- War conditions created ideal circumstances for infectious disease spread among soldiers
" One of the symptoms that would happen is like you would go catatonic and then your face would freeze in a look of horror and just freeze and you couldn't it was like the ring how they look like ah like your face would just be stuck that way "
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