Curious City: The Mystery Collection

Curious City: The Mystery Collection
Logan Jaffe / WBEZ
Curious City: The Mystery Collection
Logan Jaffe / WBEZ

Curious City: The Mystery Collection

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Editor’s Note: This special first aired in 2015.

It’s a funny thing, the curiosity business.

One week you’re solving whodunnit mysteries, demanding answers from shadowy figures who know a thing or two about gym shoes on power lines. The next week you’re investigating a case about missing starlight, traversing the silent seas of Lake Michigan by sailboat in search of clues.

For the past five years, Curious City’s team of gumshoe reporters has been cracking the cases you’ve assigned us by way of questions. And as we’ve tracked down answers, we’ve filed each case away in the form of written and recorded reports.

But some investigations are just too intriguing … too curious … too mysterious … to file away forever. That’s why we’re dusting off some of Curious City’s most curious case files to bring you a collection of our favorite mysteries. Call it a holiday present. Call it a stocking stuffer. Heck, call it a mitzvah.

Regardless, just let loose. Kick back in your favorite armchair with your favorite pipe. Turn the shades down, turn the volume up, or just get reading. And whether our mystery files make you wonder if there’s more to Chicago than what there seems, or make you think twice about that strange thing you pass every day …. Well, you know who to call.

‘Til next time,

Curious City

Public radio’s private eye

Case #112575: The Mystery of the Hanging Gym Shoes

Reporter Meribah Knight investigates Matt Latourette’s question: What’s with all the gym shoes hanging from power lines

Case #82: The Disappearing Stool

Reporter Shannon Heffernan investigates 6-year-old Satchel Lang’s question: Where does poop go when you flush the toilet in Chicago?

Case #651: They Found It At the Bottom of the River

Curious City founder Jennifer Brandel investigates Mike Mitterman’s question: What’s at the bottom of the Chicago River?

Case #98:  We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

Producer Jesse Dukes investigates Hilary Winarz’s question: Can we please get a final ruling on whether or not one young George Lawson was actually attacked by a shark, in Lake Michigan in 1955?

Case #110578: Die Fledermaus

Reporters Logan Jaffe and Jennifer Brandel investigate Rory Keane’s question: Where do Chicago’s bats hang out?

Case #111111118: Dude, Where’s My Stars?

Reporters Jesse Dukes and Logan Jaffe investigate Paula de los Angeles’ question: What are the best spots in Chicago or the suburbs to stargaze?

Curious City tweets @WBEZCuriousCity.