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Curious City — 652 episodes · page 1 of 7
What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?
‘Rivalry is our last name:’ Chicago and Detroit battle on the dancefloor
Industrial jobs left Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Why did it hit these cities differently?
Chicago, Milwaukee or Detroit: Which city has the best encased meats?
How Ella Jenkins’ Chicago childhood shaped her iconic children’s music
Did Chicago invent the rage room? A look inside “the Frustration Room”
How did a native Chicago plant disappear forever?
Why is the island in Washington Park behind a locked gate?
School lunch used to ace the test
Shipwrecks, mussels and sponges: Chicago is a scuba diving destination
Chicago has many block club signs. What are block clubs and what do they do?
“Like getting paid to party”: The life of cover bands on the Chicago festival circuit
Is that a lobster in the Chicago River?
‘Give while you live’: Who is Museum of Science and Industry founder Julius Rosenwald?
A good lake, not a Great Lake
Why does Chicago have so little love for the ‘Watchdog’ of the lakefront?
Is This Your Card? A Brief History Of Chicago-style Magic
Where did the term 'Chicagoland' come from?
How did Hollywood Beach become Chicago’s ‘gay beach’?
Why does Chicago use Comic Sans on some elevator inspection certificates?
Does Chicago have a Filipino neighborhood?
Why are there helicopters flying over my neighborhood every night?
Why does Chicago have a monument named for fascist leader Italo Balbo?
Standing on history: Who built Chicago’s WPA sidewalks?
‘This is how I speak’: The influence of the Black Chicago accent
How has the Black Chicago accent retained its Southern roots?
The story of the Lady Elgin, the deadliest shipwreck in Great Lakes history
What are Chicago area lighthouses used for?
How early Black Chicagoans used photography to redefine their image
What was Chicago's first art gallery?
Chicago came under martial law after the Great Fire. Did it help?
The ‘windmill capital of the world’ used to be down the road from Chicago
Why aren’t there wind turbines in Lake Michigan?
No cars, no road salt: How one Midwestern community avoids salt all winter
How does a mild winter affect Chicago’s economy?
What was it like for women working in Hoover’s FBI?
Why did the FBI recruit girls from Catholic high schools?
How Ella Jenkins’ Chicago childhood shaped her iconic children’s music
What's the first Chicago public school named in honor of a Black person?
Why did Chicago widen Ashland Avenue?
Why is Ashland Avenue sometimes Ashland Boulevard?
We can’t name ‘em all, but here are some of Chicago’s greatest films
From ‘The Fugitive’ to ‘The Dark Knight,’ what’s the best movie filmed in Chicago?
‘Weather is cool’: Weird Chicago weather, from northern lights to water spouts
When is it no longer ‘cooler by the lake’?
‘It felt like a secret’: Remembering Chicago’s Berlin nightclub
What’s the story behind Berlin nightclub’s huge mural?
Krampus is coming: The Christmas demon’s Chicago connection
“A Christmas Carol”: An amateur actor’s journey into a Chicago holiday tradition
The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois
A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally
How one organization is transforming Englewood’s vacant lots
Want to buy the vacant lot next door? It might take awhile
Does your iguana need x-rays? A local exotic animal hospital can help
A monkey on the loose: Odd animal sightings in Chicago
Beyond the settlement: Helping Chicago’s many survivors of police torture
What impact do big payouts have on survivors of police torture and misconduct?
Two-and-a-half minutes: Pilot John Ginley’s dance with disaster
‘Mayday, mayday, mayday’: How many planes have landed on Lake Shore Drive?
A Curious City Halloween: Scary stories from spooked Chicagoans
Gone and nearly forgotten: Lincoln Park’s High Bridge
The unsung legacy of Margaret Burroughs: ‘We called her mama’
Chicago is a jazz city, but where are the jazz radio stations?
How a group of volunteers saved a rare Illinois wildflower
What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?
The tale of the two-flat
‘Women adrift’: How single women lived independently in early Chicago
‘Friendship set to music’: Curious City goes square dancing on the South Side
Square dance clubs used to be bumping on the weekends
Is your local mall dying, thriving or evolving?
What was Ford City Mall like in its heyday?
What happened after a dangerous year inside Cook County Jail
What is that supply tent outside of Cook County Jail?
Apple slices are a nearly forgotten piece of Chicago pastry history
Do pigs need rescuing?
What happened to Chicago’s presidential pig?
What’s the oldest book in circulation at the Chicago Public Library?
School is in session, and we put the CPS butter cookie to the test
School lunch used to pass the test
What’s the history of Chinese gangs in Chicago?
What a failed robbery from 1951 tells us about Chicago crime
The other organizations empowering Chicago’s Chinatown
What happened to Chinatown’s family associations?
Is women’s pro softball here to stay?
A league of Chicago’s Own: The other women’s pro league of the 1940s
Car, bike, public transit: What’s the best way to get around town?
Who thought traffic circles were a good idea? Do we need them?
The curious case of the Swami Vivekananda Way street sign
Chicago’s LGBTQ+ library is a space for people to ‘find themselves in the shelves’
Where are the girls? A look at early lesbian nightlife in Chicago
Yes, people really do win pledge drive giveaways at WBEZ
Do people actually donate cars to public radio?
There’s nature in Chicago. Go bathe in it.
Are healthy Chicago trees getting the ax?
‘Have you checked on your ancestors?’ This woman brings dignity to deceased Black Chicagoans
Exploring the segregated past of Chicago cemeteries
What happened to Chicago's Japanese community?
Car towed? Listen to this on your way down to Chicago’s Central Auto Pound
Lower Wacker Drive: A uniquely Chicago street
Schools, Water Plants and City Hall: We search for Chicago’s nuclear fallout shelters