
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...
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Listen to Curious City, a Arts podcast by WBEZ Chicago. Stream 647 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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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.
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Curious City is listed as a Arts show. The show language is listed as English.
This page lists 647 episodes for Curious City. More episodes are available from the View more button when the list continues.