Curious City
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Curious City
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
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How early Black Chicagoans used photography to redefine their image
At the turn of the 20th century, Black photographers were starting to make a name for themselves. Photographers like William E. Woodard, James Van Der...
What was Chicago's first art gallery?
What was Chicago's first art gallery? Curious City investigates. Nowadays, it’s easy to see and experience art all over Chicago. But where did it all...
Chicago came under martial law after the Great Fire. Did it help?
The mayor of Chicago declared martial law after the Great Fire in 1871. The military occupation ended days later, after the death of a civilian. We lo...
The ‘windmill capital of the world’ used to be down the road from Chicago
Suburban Batavia, just 30 miles west of Chicago, used to be known as the windmill capital of the world. But eventually, technological advances took th...
Why aren’t there wind turbines in Lake Michigan?
Strong and consistent winds that sweep across Lake Michigan could provide significant electricity generation. But there are no wind turbines in the la...
No cars, no road salt: How one Midwestern community avoids salt all winter
Chicago — like so many other frigid American cities — can’t seem to kick its dependence on road salt.
In our last episode, we learned h...
How does a mild winter affect Chicago’s economy?
Each Chicago winter’s wintery-ness has big implications for your sanity and your wallet. That led one Curious City listener to ask us if mild winters...
What was it like for women working in Hoover’s FBI?
For decades, the FBI was a man’s world. Anybody else was just living in it, especially the administrative staff.
In the last episode,...
Why did the FBI recruit girls from Catholic high schools?
For a few decades starting in the 1940s, the FBI recruited high school girls for clerical work. A Chicago Catholic school was a go-to spot to make new...
How Ella Jenkins’ Chicago childhood shaped her iconic children’s music
From school assemblies to “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood,” Ella Jenkins was a rhythm specialist and children’s music pioneer. Her childhood in Chicago was h...
What's the first Chicago public school named in honor of a Black person?
Many of Chicago’s oldest schools are named after white men. The first named after a Black person goes back to the 1930s, and it came with some controv...
Why did Chicago widen Ashland Avenue?
If you pay attention to street signs in Chicago, you’ll notice imperfections and many quirks.
Paul Durica of the Chicago History Museu...
Why is Ashland Avenue sometimes Ashland Boulevard?
Ashland Avenue is one of the longest and oldest streets in Chicago, but sometimes it’s a boulevard. Is this a misprint? Or is this part of the city’s...
We can’t name ‘em all, but here are some of Chicago’s greatest films
From high-speed chases to preposterous parades, Chicago dazzles on the silver screen. Last episode, we attempted to uncover the best movie ever filmed...
From ‘The Fugitive’ to ‘The Dark Knight,’ what’s the best movie filmed in Chicago?
It’s awards season. Time to look at some of the best movies filmed in Chicago.
‘Weather is cool’: Weird Chicago weather, from northern lights to water spouts
Thanks to the powerful force that is Lake Michigan and the urban heat island that is Chicago, the city has witnessed some unusual and extreme weather...
When is it no longer ‘cooler by the lake’?
You’ve heard it in the Chicago weather forecast time and time again: “cooler by the lake.” But how close to Lake Michigan do you need to be to feel th...
‘It felt like a secret’: Remembering Chicago’s Berlin nightclub
Berlin nightclub in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood closed permanently in November 2023, after four decades in business. The closure happened amid sta...
What’s the story behind Berlin nightclub’s huge mural?
The large mural hung over the main bar at Berlin. Painted in the Art Deco style, the masculine and feminine figures in the painting watched over the n...
Krampus is coming: The Christmas demon’s Chicago connection
On the morning of St. Nicholas Day, good kids rush downstairs to see what kind of gifts might be in their shoes. The bad kids? Unfortunately they migh...
“A Christmas Carol”: An amateur actor’s journey into a Chicago holiday tradition
The Christkindlmarket, the CTA holiday train and “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre. Chicago is full of holiday traditions. In this episode, w...
The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois
The Robbins Airport, just southwest of Chicago, was the first Black-owned and -operated airport in the country. Its founders were pivotal to Black avi...
A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally
Lake Shore Drive has served as a makeshift runway for emergency landings. But it’s also been an *intentional* runway for planned arrivals. We go back...
How one organization is transforming Englewood’s vacant lots
The city of Chicago owns thousands of vacant lots, and more than 80 percent of those parcels are in communities where the population is at least 80 pe...
Want to buy the vacant lot next door? It might take awhile
Buying a city-owned lot seems like a simple process, but buying one might take longer than expected. The city puts a limited number of parcels up for...
Does your iguana need x-rays? A local exotic animal hospital can help
Stop us if you’ve heard this one: A hedgehog, a river otter and an iguana walk into a local exotic animal hospital …
Whether intentiona...
A monkey on the loose: Odd animal sightings in Chicago
Animal control is used to dealing with stray cats and dogs. But what happens when there’s a peacock strutting down the alley? Curious City explores st...
Beyond the settlement: Helping Chicago’s many survivors of police torture
Chicago passed a reparations ordinance 10 years ago for the survivors of police torture committed under the direction of disgraced Chicago police comm...
What impact do big payouts have on survivors of police torture and misconduct?
This year marks a new record, as Chicago city leaders have so far agreed to pay more than $266 million to resolve a wide range of police misconduct la...
Two-and-a-half minutes: Pilot John Ginley’s dance with disaster
While flying over downtown Chicago on July 18, 2018, a World-War-II era single-engine Ercoupe airplane suffered “complete mechanical failure.”
...
‘Mayday, mayday, mayday’: How many planes have landed on Lake Shore Drive?
A couple of pilots have made forced landings on DuSable Lake Shore Drive. What makes a road or any other non-airport spot the best option in an emerge...
A Curious City Halloween: Scary stories from spooked Chicagoans
Three stories from Chicagoans who endured a terrifying experience that they couldn’t explain, couldn’t get over, or couldn’t escape.
Ka...
Gone and nearly forgotten: Lincoln Park’s High Bridge
A bridge constructed for sightseeing during the turn of the century soon became known as a place for death. If you or someone you know is struggling w...
The unsung legacy of Margaret Burroughs: ‘We called her mama’
Margaret Burroughs was a force to be reckoned with. An artist and a poet in Chicago from the 1920s until her death in 2010, she was also a teacher, an...
Chicago is a jazz city, but where are the jazz radio stations?
The city is home to a vibrant jazz scene and the Chicago Jazz Festival. But WDCB is the only all-jazz radio station in the region. Why isn't there mor...
How a group of volunteers saved a rare Illinois wildflower
The Kankakee mallow is one of the rarest plants on the continent, according to the Smithsonian Garden in Washington D.C. It’s a pink flower that grows...
What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?
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...
The tale of the two-flat
You know the building: Two stories, an apartment unit on each floor, usually with bay windows and a facade of brick or greystone.
But...
‘Women adrift’: How single women lived independently in early Chicago
At the turn of the century in Chicago, single women without a husband or family were considered to be "adrift," but they weren’t drifting at all. They...
‘Friendship set to music’: Curious City goes square dancing on the South Side
It’s a Thursday night and a group of folks in Washington Heights do-si-do to the bassline from “Shake Your Groove Thing” by Peaches & Herb. Square dan...