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Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.

society & culture places & travel

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00:20:08

Uptown was once a vibrant hub for Chicago’s Native...

Curious City ·

2024/05/23

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, known for vibrant cultural communities.One Curious City listener wanted to know if Native Americans currently have a neighborhood enclave in the city. Native people have always been in Chicago, despite continued attempts to remove them that culminated in the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. Still, Chicago remains an important place for Native Americans in the region. The Chicago metro area has the third-largest urban Native American population in the United States,

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00:19:23

There’s more to Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery than ghost...

Curious City ·

2024/05/16

Tucked away in Rubio Woods in the south suburb of Midlothian, Bachelor’s Grove is an isolated clearing in the woods. The graveyard is overgrown and hasn’t had a burial since the 1980s. Young people have been known to make it a hangout spot away from the watchful eye of parents and authorities. But more than anything, the little cemetery has gained a reputation for being haunted. Some residents say they’ve seen sightings of a woman in white or an

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00:24:14

Pick a card, any card: The history of Chicago-style...

Curious City ·

2024/05/11

Walking around Chicago in the 1940s, you’d see the Wrigley Building and the Chicago Board of Trade dominating the skyline. Prohibition was over, and taverns boomed. Jazz clubs, theaters and dance halls were places people went to enjoy themselves. But if you walked into Schulien’s, at 1800 N. Halsted, you would have happened upon a burgeoning form of entertainment: close-up magic. The German restaurant was where you could find Matt Schulien doing card tricks with a cigar in his mouth and a

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00:24:30

You don’t have to be famous — or even from Chicago —...

Curious City ·

2024/05/09

Editor’s note: Curious City listener Mihir Patel wanted to know why the honorary street sign for Swami Vivekananda had been moved. Listen to the podcast episode to hear more about Vivekananda’s life and what happened to his designation. Walking around Chicago, you’ll notice brown street signs honoring famous Chicagoans and lesser-known residents. There’s an honorary sign for singer Chaka Khan at Blackstone Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard, and one for former Bears coach Mike Ditka at Chestnut and

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00:15:51

The mayor, the prince and the gift that invaded...

Curious City ·

2024/04/25

In the fall of 1960, Prince Akihito of Japan went on a whirlwind tour of the U.S. to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.Akihito stopped in Chicago for only 21 hours, but the Shedd Aquarium was at the top of his sightseeing list. At the aquarium, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley presented the prince with a gift of friendship: 18 bluegill, the Illinois state fish -- which some say the mayor scooped from an aquarium tank himself. This week, Curious City is doing an

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00:18:49

Who’s a good boy? A look at Chicago’s most popular...

Curious City ·

2024/04/18

As the weather gets warmer, more and more Chicagoans are out and about with their dogs. And that got us wondering: What are the most popular dog breeds in the city?WBEZ analyzed data on more than 84,000 dogs registered with the city to find Chicago’s top dogs, as well as which breeds are most common in which neighborhoods. While Chicago requires pups over four months old to be registered with the city clerk, not every dog owner does. Plus, owners don’t always guess their dog’s breed

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00:14:17

What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?

Curious City ·

2024/04/11

During the 2023 Chicago municipal elections, freelance journalist Taylor Moore often looked over the city’s ward and precinct maps. She noticed something unusual about the 19th Ward. This southwest ward that includes the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood had a rectangular cutout in the middle of the map. “I had never seen that before. It was so strange to me,” said Moore, who’s lived in Chicago for almost a decade. “If the rectangle wasn't part of the 19th Ward or part of Chicago, what could it possibly

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00:18:49

Illinois’ crows are making a comeback. There’s a...

Curious City ·

2024/04/04

Some consider them pests or harbingers of doom. For others, they’re a sign of good luck. For Pullman resident Phoebe Murtagh, the American Crow is a charismatic addition to her favorite Chicago parks.“I’ve found them curious since I learned that they can use tools and recognize faces, and clever animals are always kind of the most interesting because you end up wondering what they’re thinking about,” she said.The 26-year-old spends a lot of time in parks all around the city and loves watching the

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00:22:45

From the space race to a consent decree: the history...

Curious City ·

2024/03/28

Joe Gondolfi, a high school teacher for Chicago Public Schools, said he’s long been puzzled by the students and parents who seem obsessed with selective enrollment high schools.These public schools offer accelerated programs and accept students based on grades and scores on an admissions exam. Over the years, the admission process has become so competitive that the Chicago Board of Education compared it to the “hunger games.” As a result, board members now want to de-emphasize the program and

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00:15:18

Apple slices are a nearly forgotten piece of Chicago...

Curious City ·

2024/03/21

Growing up in the Chicago area in the 1990s, Theresa Flanagan remembers visiting her grandparents and eating one of their favorite desserts: apple slices.The pastry, which consists of gooey apple filling between layers of dough and topped with a sugary glaze, is basically a slab pie that’s sold by the square or in a pan. Apple slices used to be a Chicago staple. Now the somewhat obscure dessert is only sold at a few local bakeries. Apple slices recipe Originally appeared in

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00:21:14

Stealing campaign signs is a Chicago tradition...

Curious City ·

2024/03/14

It was 2:30 a.m. when Ann Brekke was jolted out of a dead sleep. She heard some empty cans clinking around the front yard, then suddenly a car screeching away.The next morning, Brekke went outside and saw that, yet again, someone had stolen the political yard sign off her lawn. Sign stealing and other campaign hijinks are par for the course for municipal elections in the Chicago area. Back in 2007, it was especially rampant in the 50th Ward, where the Wasmer-Brekke family lived. At the time,

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00:22:15

She should be here: Why aren't there more statues of...

Curious City ·

2024/03/07

Curious Citizen Kate Hannigan spends a lot time walking through Chicago’s parks and streets, and there’s something that really bugs her — it’s something that she doesn’t see. So she asked Curious City, “Where are all the statues of women?"

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00:17:40

The city that purrs: Getting to know Chicago’s feral...

Curious City ·

2024/02/29

The feral cats are hungry. It’s a sunny winter morning in Chicago’s South Deering neighborhood, and a tortoiseshell cat waits patiently next to a blue hatchback while another stalks the sidewalk from a distance.Liz Houtz and Erica Roewade, co-founders of Cats in Action, pull several long cages out of their car, fill them with food and begin placing them on porches and in yards where feral cats are congregating — all with the neighbors’ permission, of course. Houtz and Roewade are here to

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00:26:13

Meet the prolific graffiti artist whose work is all...

Curious City ·

2024/02/22

Street artist Joos is perhaps best known for works that resemble ribbons of dissolving color, or paint that’s been pressure washed and left blooms of pigment behind.“It's like, is it a shadow? Is it a silhouette? What is it? I think … he gets a kick out of tricking people, and making people take a second look at something,” said Robert Herguth, who profiled the artist last year. The distinctive graffiti caught the eye of Curious City listener Judy

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00:16:43

Black History Month, which has Chicago roots, has...

Curious City ·

2024/02/15

When you ask the students at Leo Catholic High School in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood what they like most about Black History Month, they’re eager to answer. “Every year during Black History Month, I find out something new that I never knew,” one student said. “I like the culture and how it brings everybody together,” another added. In Chicago and across the country, it’s become an expectation, especially in schools to celebrate Black History Month in February. In more recent

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00:18:30

Looking back at the 1940 exposition that showcased...

Curious City ·

2024/02/09

Chicago has played host to many expositions in the city’s history — perhaps most notably to the Columbian Exposition, often called the World’s Fair of 1893. In what is now known as Jackson Park, the sprawling fairgrounds, called the “White City,” were famously lit at night by incandescent lamps. The purpose of such fairs was to show innovation, achievement and imagination. “I call them cities in miniature,” said Mabel Wilson, architectural designer and professor at Columbia University. “Because

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00:21:00

Independent Black cinema got its start on Chicago’s...

Curious City ·

2024/02/01

During the early 1900s, as silent film production was growing, Black film companies lined State Street in what would eventually be considered Bronzeville — the first of which was Foster Photoplay Company, owned by William Foster. Foster Photoplay is considered to be the first Black-owned film production company in the U.S. that featured an all-Black cast.This week, we're revisiting that story.

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00:16:42

Nestled between barbershops and vacant buildings,...

Curious City ·

2024/01/25

Drive down Division St. in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, and you’ll pass storefront after storefront with names like “Christ Resurrection Missionary Baptist Church” and “Old Rugged Cross Missionary Baptist Church.” Storefront churches are defined by their location: They’re houses of worship tucked into strip malls or street-facing buildings that might otherwise serve commercial purposes. These churches are often sandwiched between all sorts of spaces, including barbershops, chicken-and-fish

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00:20:08

Police scanners, live video and social media are all...

Curious City ·

2024/01/18

The podcast episode accompanying this article answers several traffic-related questions, including one about how city traffic lights are timed and another about why construction on I-90/I-94 happens the way it does. Click “listen” at the top of this page to hear the full story. High school math teacher Connor Cameron cannot be late for work. “If I show up at 8:05 there are 30 students who are unsupervised,” Cameron said, “and I cannot afford to do that.” Cameron teaches on Chicago’s Southwest

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00:19:17

What’s it like to be a snow plow driver in Chicago?

Curious City ·

2024/01/11

Whether it’s your first winter in Chicago or your 40th, there’s no denying the season’s unforgiving weather. From below-freezing temperatures to blustering blizzards, navigating the Windy City in these months can be a challenge. Fortunately for Chicagoans, during a snowstorm, the Department of Streets and Sanitation has 300 city snow plow truck drivers per shift at the ready to keep the roads clear of snow and ice.In this episode,Curious City’s Maggie Sivit and JP Swenson brave the first snowstorm

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