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WBEZ Chicago
Curious CityEpisodes
WBEZ Chicago
Curious City
4 people rated this podcast
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Curious City’s new reporter Adriana Cardona-Maguigad braves the freezing temperatures to find out how Chicagoans are getting through the stress of winter.
Curious City’s Monica Eng investigates the origins of Chicago’s favorite spicy condiment: giardiniera. This humble jar of veggies packed in oil has roots in Sicily, and Monica tracks down at least two different Chicago families who believe the
Curious City finds out where your poop goes by taking a journey through the Chicago-area sewer system.
The huge, gleaming Baháʼí House of Worship for North America definitely stands out from its suburban lakefront surroundings. It’s the oldest Baháʼí temple in the world, and it’s also known as the holiest. But why is it in Wilmette, Illinois?
As Curious City goes through some changes, we take some time to look back and reflect on more than a decade of answering listeners' questions and lessons learned over the years.
We go searching for the oldest book in circulation at the library, and find out how a title avoids the book “weeding” process.
It's difficult to find records of Underground Railroad activity in Chicago because the work was inherently dangerous. But some historical documents offer a glimpse.
We went digging for dinosaur bones in Chicago and found a bunch of other fossils along the way. We explore the region's prehistoric activity, and we’ll hear about that one time a federal judge found a mastodon in his yard.
Chicago has enclaves for numerous communities throughout its 77 neighborhoods. In the mid-20th century, Uptown was the nucleus for Native Americans who relocated to the city. Learn how Uptown became a cultural hub and what happened to that encl
Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in Midlothian is rumored to be haunted with alleged sightings of a woman in white. But there’s more to this place than spooky stories. Learn about the early settlers who called this place home and why a historian worri
Kids in India learn about Swami Vivekananda like kids in the U.S. learn about Abraham Lincoln. So how is it that he has his own honorary Chicago street sign? Find out about the monk who introduced Hinduism to the West, his deep ties to the city
Chicago-style magic is close up, funny and usually performed at a bar or restaurant. We learn about its history and talk to several magicians who are part of the tradition.
In October 1960, Prince Akihito of Japan visited Chicago for 21 hours. Chicago’s mayor presented the prince with a diplomatic gift: 18 bluegill. What happened next would change the underwater world of Japan forever.
Pit bulls are the number one dog breed in Chicago. We take a trip to the animal shelter to find out why, and we follow one pup as he attempts to find a forever home.
There’s a hole in the map of Chicago. It turns out, it’s a cemetery. But there are many other cemeteries in Chicago that don’t show up as holes on the map, so what’s up with this one? We take you to the 19th Ward and explore the history of thi
A listener thought she’d noticed a change in Chicago’s crow population. And she was right. More than twenty years ago, the crow population of Illinois was at an all-time high. But just a few years later, half of the birds were dead. The crows w
What began as a method of desegregation and a way to stem white flight has now become a source of both pride and pain for kids and families around the city. We’ll look at the history and future of Chicago’s selective enrollment high schools.
Apple slices were a favorite Chicago pastry decades ago. Not many bakeries sell them today, but the dessert still has avid fans who hold on to its nostalgic flavor.
Stealing political signs has been a thing since candidates started printing signs. The tactic was widely used by the Chicago political machine, and its origins trace back to the late 1800s when saloons and politicians worked closely together.
The juvenile justice system we know today was created by Cook County women. We take a look back at how the program came to be. Then later, ever notice how so few of Chicago’s monuments are of women? We’ll find out why and talk to the folks work
Chicago is home to thousands of feral cats. But who’s looking after them? We look at the pros and cons of keeping feral cat colonies.
Around Chicago, there are ribbons of paint on utility boxes that look like little doodles. But there’s much more to these paint splotches. The street artist and graffiti writer behind this and much larger work says painting has been a lifesaver
This week, hear about historian Carter G. Woodson’s important Chicago ties, and how he came up with the idea for a “Negro History Week,” which later turned into the Black History Month we celebrate today.
Fed up with how Black Americans were portrayed at world’s fairs, Black organizers created the “first real Negro World’s Fair” in Chicago in 1940. As Arionne Nettles reports, this exposition paved the way for Black institutions. Nettles’ debut b
In 1913 Chicagoan William Foster became the first Black director to make a film with an all Black cast. Yet most people have never heard of him. Join Arionne Nettles as she tells Foster's story, the story of Black filmmaking in Chicago, when ou
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