Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsOpening Radio and Podcast...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsFetching podcast shows and categories...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsFetching podcast episodes...
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
Have you ever noticed a branded stamp in the sidewalk? Keen-eyed Chicagoans have found some that date back to Depression-era infrastructure...
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 have Black Chicagoans kept so many features of the Southern dialect? To answer starts with the Great Migration.
The Lady Elgin left Chicago for Milwaukee on a stormy September night in 1860 with around 400 passengers aboard. Another vessel was also out...
Lighthouses were manned by keepers until automation took over. Now, preservationists are working to restore Chicago’s most iconic one.
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? Curious City investigates. Nowadays, it’s easy to see and experience art all over Chicago. But where d...
The mayor of Chicago declared martial law after the Great Fire in 1871. The military occupation ended days later, after the death of a civil...
Suburban Batavia, just 30 miles west of Chicago, used to be known as the windmill capital of the world. But eventually, technological advanc...
Strong and consistent winds that sweep across Lake Michigan could provide significant electricity generation. But there are no wind turbines...
Chicago — like so many other frigid American cities — can’t seem to kick its dependence on road salt. In our last episode, we learned how wi...
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 mil...
For decades, the FBI was a man’s world. Anybody else was just living in it, especially the administrative staff. In the last episode, we lea...
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 t...
From school assemblies to “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood,” Ella Jenkins was a rhythm specialist and children’s music pioneer. Her childhood in Chi...
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 so...
If you pay attention to street signs in Chicago, you’ll notice imperfections and many quirks. Paul Durica of the Chicago History Museum said...
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 t...
From high-speed chases to preposterous parades, Chicago dazzles on the silver screen. Last episode, we attempted to uncover the best movie e...
It’s awards season. Time to look at some of the best movies filmed in Chicago.
Thanks to the powerful force that is Lake Michigan and the urban heat island that is Chicago, the city has witnessed some unusual and extrem...
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...
Berlin nightclub in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood closed permanently in November 2023, after four decades in business. The closure happene...
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...
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...
The Christkindlmarket, the CTA holiday train and “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre. Chicago is full of holiday traditions. In this...
The Robbins Airport, just southwest of Chicago, was the first Black-owned and -operated airport in the country. Its founders were pivotal to...
Lake Shore Drive has served as a makeshift runway for emergency landings. But it’s also been an *intentional* runway for planned arrivals. W...
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 l...
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 parce...
Stop us if you’ve heard this one: A hedgehog, a river otter and an iguana walk into a local exotic animal hospital … Whether intentional or...
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 e...
Chicago passed a reparations ordinance 10 years ago for the survivors of police torture committed under the direction of disgraced Chicago p...
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 mis...
While flying over downtown Chicago on July 18, 2018, a World-War-II era single-engine Ercoupe airplane suffered “complete mechanical failure...
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...
Three stories from Chicagoans who endured a terrifying experience that they couldn’t explain, couldn’t get over, or couldn’t escape. Karen H...
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 st...
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 t...
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...
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...
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 ho...
You know the building: Two stories, an apartment unit on each floor, usually with bay windows and a facade of brick or greystone. But how di...
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...
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 dancing was once so popular that a center opened in the suburbs dedicated to the hobby. Today, veteran dancers are trying to recruit...
Malls hold a special spot in the hearts of many Americans of a certain age. One may have been the setting for your first date, the place you...
Vacant shops and faded signs, Ford City Mall is in the process of being sold. But this shell of a shopping center was once a bustling hub, e...
The year 2023 was a deadly one at the Cook County Jail. Eighteen people died in custody, “for many reasons,” said reporter Carlos Ballestero...
Almost every night, a group of volunteers sets up a table of supplies. Their goal is to assist everyone who is being released; from bottled...