WBEZ’s Curious City answers questions from listeners about Chicago and the region. We include the public in our storytelling, making journalism more transparent and interconnected.
Curious City airs on Wednesday afternoons, during All Things Considered on WBEZ. And listen to deeper dive conversations every Thursday on all podcast platforms. Have a question about Chicago? Submit it below or email us at curiouscity@wbez.org.
Recent
If you think relocating is hard today, a century ago, Chicago tenants faced price-gouging, extortion and havoc in the streets every May 1.
The monument recognizes the labor leader’s fight for the eight-hour workday and the end of child workers. But his legacy is more complicated.
Born and raised in Chicago, Rodriguez designed clothes here for 17 years in the 1980s and ‘90s.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Chicago fashion designers held their own against the top names in the industry. Today, the city’s design scene is coming back in its own way.
We look at a beloved area coffeeshop of the 1970s: Amazingrace, which was born out of Vietnam War protests on Northwestern’s campus.
Folk music became popular with youth in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. As alcohol-free third spaces, coffeehouses were key to that growth.
Host Erin Allen talks with NPR national security correspondent Odette Yousef about a new era of extremism.
Extremist groups of the 1950s played a part, alongside real estate and neighborhood organizations, in keeping Chicago segregated.
The Chicago area is just one of a handful in the U.S. where residents can become recognized caretakers of feral cat colonies.
Host Erin Allen talks with Fujita’s great-nephew and biographer about how Fujita navigated a perilous time for immigrants.