Curious City
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
WBEZ’s Curious City series is an ongoing news experiment at WBEZ, online and on the radio dial around Chicago at 91.5 FM. Our mission is to include the public in editorial decision-making, make journalism more transparent and strengthen multimedia coverage about Chicago, the surrounding region and its people (past or present).
Curious City airs on Thursdays during All Things Considered on WBEZ
Recent
From sound “canyons” to temperature inversion layers, we looked at the factors that influence how sound moves in the city.
In the 19th century, many U.S. cities had laws that targeted unhoused people with disabilities. Chicago’s law was particularly notorious.
Hundreds of women and girls were exposed to a radioactive chemical at an Illinois factory in the 1920s. Years later, they helped change workplace safety standards.
Malört’s ascendancy happened more recently than you might think. And a lot of it comes down to one man.
While there are parallels between the political environment that surrounded the volatile ’68 DNC and today, that doesn’t mean history will repeat itself.
After immigrant communities brought soccer to Chicago in the 1800s, the city went on to have several professional and semi-professional teams.
Major construction projects from more than 50 years ago left behind large pits in the ground. Many have since been converted into beloved fishing lakes.
In Chicago’s early days, Irish pubs were part cultural center and social service agency. Today, many are the product of marketing genius.
The Baháʼí House of Worship stands in contrast to its suburban surroundings. Known as the holiest Baháʼí temple, it’s also the oldest in the world.
The show began in 2012 as a project that asked listeners what they wanted to know and leveraged the power of a newsroom to bring them answers.