BAM! A Pothole Damaged Your Car! Now What?
It takes a lot of information and a lot of patience, but here’s what you need to know to get reimbursed from the city.
Mar 31, 2019•5 min
Curious City
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
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Episodes
These Four Design Ideas Turned ‘The Hancock Center’ Into An Iconic Skyscraper
Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan changed the way architects and engineers thought about the structure of the modern skyscraper.
Mar 24, 2019•14 min
Your Guide To Chicago Music History’s Greatest Hits: Part II
Part I of our CliffsNotes guide to Chicago music history included jazz, folk, Latin, and gospel. Here, we present four more genres.
Mar 17, 2019•13 min
Your Guide To Chicago Music History’s Greatest Hits
A former CPS student wishes kids learned more about Chicago’s rich music history. So here’s a CliffsNotes music guide. Happy listening!
Mar 10, 2019•13 min
How Do You Find Out If Your Neighborhood Is Contaminated With Lead Pollution?
Northwest Indiana resident Beth Braun wants to know whether lead emissions from the nearby steel mill are landing in her backyard.
Mar 03, 2019•12 min
What Are Chicago’s Oldest Laws?
Did you know you can’t perform in a window or dye a baby chick? We feature nine of Chicago’s most obscure laws.
Feb 24, 2019•9 min
From Mickey Mouse To Oprah: What Chicagoans Write In On Election Day
Election judges don’t usually count votes for cartoon mice or celebrities, but there was one exception. We took a peek.
Feb 17, 2019•6 min
To Chicago, With Love: What Do Transplants Love About The City?
One Chicagoan wants to know what people who moved to Chicago love about the city. From fireflies to marathons, here’s what they have to say.
Feb 10, 2019•10 min
Chicago’s Dill Pickle Club: Where Anarchists Mixed With Doctors And Poets
The Dill Pickle wasn’t just any old 1920s nightclub. It opened its doors to queer Chicagoans and other marginalized groups.
Feb 03, 2019•10 min
The Gold Star Sardine Bar: The Rise And Fall Of A Chicago Jazz Club
The story of one Chicago grocery store tycoon’s dream for jazz music, movie stars, and bygone glamour.
Jan 27, 2019•15 min
Buying Black Then And Now: What’s The History Of Black-Owned Business Signs In Chicago?
From boycotts to hashtags, Curious City traces the history of a 150-year-old message urging the black community to support black businesses.
Jan 20, 2019•10 min
What Was It Like To Dance At The Warehouse Club In Chicago?
Curious City spends a night at The Warehouse club through the memories of teens who danced there in the 1980s.
Jan 13, 2019•9 min
Unlocking The Closet: Coming Out Later In Life
WBEZ’s Tony Sarabia talks with people who came out later in life about how that affected their closest relationships.
Jan 06, 2019•43 min
VPR’s ‘But Why’: Why Do We Poop And Fart?
A recent episode from VPR’s podcast for curious kids features reporting from Curious City about what happens after you flush the toilet.
Dec 30, 2018•26 min
Tips For Hunting Chicago’s Long-lost Recipes
The city's top recipe sleuths share their secrets as we recreate a divine, but elusive, fried chicken dish.
Dec 23, 2018•9 min
A Butcher, A Developer And His Wife: Where Six Chicago Streets Got Their Names (And Pronunciations!)
Hint: If you want a Chicago street named after you, it helps to know a real estate developer — or be married to one!
Dec 16, 2018•6 min
Chicago Candidates Need Loads of Petition Signatures To Land On The Ballot, But Is That Fair?
Candidates need to gather and then defend stacks of petition signatures. We break down who this helps and hurts.
Dec 09, 2018•9 min
Pregnancy Tests? Pigeon Poo? What Chicago Aldermen Really Do
Sure, they pass laws and vote on city budgets. But there’s so much more. Think: Pregnancy tests and pigeon poo.
Dec 02, 2018•10 min
DEH-vin Or Deh-VOHN? Why The CTA Pronounces Chicago Street Names A Certain Way
The CTA consults lots of sources to decide how to pronounce street names. Take our quiz to find out how your pronunciations match up.
Nov 25, 2018•7 min
Displaced: When The Eisenhower Expressway Moved In, Who Was Forced Out?
The Ike was the city’s first superhighway. In this special presentation, people affected open up about how it scattered ethnic neighborhoods and changed many lives forever.
Nov 18, 2018•13 min
Steak And Lemonade: What Are The Origins Of This Chicago Food Combo?
The beef sandwich and slushy drink are sold together all across the South and West sides. We track down the guy who put the two together.
Nov 11, 2018•9 min
Did All Chicagoans Support The Civil War?
The story of Irish-American draft resisters, African-Americans who defied the odds in order to fight, and women who found alternate ways to support the war.
Nov 04, 2018•13 min
From Stockyards To Speakeasies: A Chicago Historian Tackles 5 Questions About The City’s History
Dominic Pacyga shares his encyclopedic knowledge of Chicago history and answers questions about everything from “gin joints” to stockyards.
Oct 28, 2018•13 min
How Vacant Chicago Storefronts Rise From The Dead As Halloween Costume Stores
We unearth the business model behind these seasonal shops, and get the scoop on what costumes will be most popular this season.
Oct 21, 2018•5 min
Why Doesn’t Chicago Have More Co-Op Grocery Stores?
We learn that, despite the current paucity of food co-ops, the city actually has a strong food co-op history — and there may be more on the horizon.
Oct 14, 2018•9 min
Gone Fishin’: What Happened To Chicago’s Booming Commercial Fishing Industry?
Chicago once had a booming commercial fishing industry. Lawrence’s Fish and Shrimp is one of the last vestiges of that industry.
Oct 07, 2018•10 min
Who Is Billy Sunday In The Popular Sinatra Song, ‘Chicago?’
Billy Sunday was an influential preacher within the American evangelical movement. How'd he end up in a song sung by Sinatra?
Sep 30, 2018•9 min
How Political Clout And Union Power Created Chicago’s Lead Water Problem
Chicago continued to use lead pipes long after many cities banned them. We look at the politics and personalities behind it.
Sep 16, 2018•9 min
Daley vs. Little Italy: Did The Mayor Drop UIC On The Neighborhood Out Of Spite?
Why did Richard J. Daley push for the UIC campus to rise from the heart of a long-standing ethnic neighborhood? In this special Curious City presentation, reporter Monica Eng examines the pervasive suspicion that the mayor’s choice rose from a political spat or — even worse — from disdain for the Italian-American community. Click here for the full story.
Sep 09, 2018•11 min
Hidden in Plain Sight: Inside Downtown Chicago's Windowless, Doorless Buildings
Here’s a peek at what goes on inside some of these “mystery buildings” and how their architectural disguises have evolved over the decades.
Sep 02, 2018•14 min
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