Chicago has many block club signs. What are block clubs and what do they do?
Block club signs are all over the city, usually welcoming you to the neighborhood or telling you what you should or should not do while you’...
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Curious City
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
Curious City Podcast Guide
Listen to Curious City, a Arts podcast by WBEZ Chicago. Stream 660 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Episodes
20 of 660 episodes“Like getting paid to party”: The life of cover bands on the Chicago festival circuit
Once summer hits, local cover bands are busy working Chicago’s many street festivals. What’s life like for cover band musicians? Curious Cit...
Is that a lobster in the Chicago River?
It’s an invasive species that doesn’t seem harmful at first glance. But if they go unchecked, these little things can disrupt local ecologie...
‘Give while you live’: Who is Museum of Science and Industry founder Julius Rosenwald?
The Museum of Science and Industry was renamed in 2024 in recognition of megadonor Ken Griffin. The museum’s original founder, Julius Rosenw...
A good lake, not a Great Lake
For a brief moment in the 1990s, Lake Champlain was known as the sixth Great Lake. The lake wedged between Vermont and New York doesn’t quit...
Why does Chicago have so little love for the ‘Watchdog’ of the lakefront?
The name Aaron Montgomery Ward might sound familiar, either from the chain of now-defunct department stores that once bore his name or as th...
Is This Your Card? A Brief History Of Chicago-style Magic
Chicago-style magic is close up, funny and usually performed at a bar or restaurant. We learn about its history and talk to several magician...
Where did the term 'Chicagoland' come from?
There’s no New York-land or Boston-land, so why does the Chicago metropolitan area have its own unique name? It turns out this has been a qu...
How did Hollywood Beach become Chicago’s ‘gay beach’?
The stretch of beach that starts where DuSable Lake Shore Drive ends wasn’t always as vibrant or as ‘gay’ as it is today. Its transition was...
Why does Chicago use Comic Sans on some elevator inspection certificates?
Comic Sans often signals levity or sarcasm. The font is occasionally used for a key phrase in some official city elevator inspection certifi...
Does Chicago have a Filipino neighborhood?
A concentrated Filipino community area is not as easy to spot as neighborhoods like Chinatown or Little Village. In this episode, we’ll look...
Why are there helicopters flying over my neighborhood every night?
Curious City listeners wondered if helicopters they heard buzzing around their Chicago neighborhoods at night were part of the federal gover...
Why does Chicago have a monument named for fascist leader Italo Balbo?
There’s an ancient Roman column in Chicago hidden in plain sight near Soldier Field. It was a gift given by Italian Fascist dictator Benito...
Standing on history: Who built Chicago’s WPA sidewalks?
Have you ever noticed a branded stamp in the sidewalk? Keen-eyed Chicagoans have found some that date back to Depression-era infrastructure...
‘This is how I speak’: The influence of the Black Chicago accent
A person’s accent can influence the way they are perceived. When it comes to broadcast journalism, the way a person talks is front and cente...
How has the Black Chicago accent retained its Southern roots?
How have Black Chicagoans kept so many features of the Southern dialect? To answer starts with the Great Migration.
The story of the Lady Elgin, the deadliest shipwreck in Great Lakes history
The Lady Elgin left Chicago for Milwaukee on a stormy September night in 1860 with around 400 passengers aboard. Another vessel was also out...
What are Chicago area lighthouses used for?
Lighthouses were manned by keepers until automation took over. Now, preservationists are working to restore Chicago’s most iconic one.
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, Jam...
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 d...