Curious City
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Curious City
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
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The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois
The Robbins Airport, just southwest of Chicago, was the first Black-owned and -operated airport in the country. Its founders were pivotal to Black avi...
A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally
Lake Shore Drive has served as a makeshift runway for emergency landings. But it’s also been an *intentional* runway for planned arrivals. We go back...
How one organization is transforming Englewood’s vacant lots
The city of Chicago owns thousands of vacant lots, and more than 80 percent of those parcels are in communities where the population is at least 80 pe...
Want to buy the vacant lot next door? It might take awhile
Buying a city-owned lot seems like a simple process, but buying one might take longer than expected. The city puts a limited number of parcels up for...
Does your iguana need x-rays? A local exotic animal hospital can help
Stop us if you’ve heard this one: A hedgehog, a river otter and an iguana walk into a local exotic animal hospital …
Whether intentiona...
A monkey on the loose: Odd animal sightings in Chicago
Animal control is used to dealing with stray cats and dogs. But what happens when there’s a peacock strutting down the alley? Curious City explores st...
Beyond the settlement: Helping Chicago’s many survivors of police torture
Chicago passed a reparations ordinance 10 years ago for the survivors of police torture committed under the direction of disgraced Chicago police comm...
What impact do big payouts have on survivors of police torture and misconduct?
This year marks a new record, as Chicago city leaders have so far agreed to pay more than $266 million to resolve a wide range of police misconduct la...
Two-and-a-half minutes: Pilot John Ginley’s dance with disaster
While flying over downtown Chicago on July 18, 2018, a World-War-II era single-engine Ercoupe airplane suffered “complete mechanical failure.”
...
‘Mayday, mayday, mayday’: How many planes have landed on Lake Shore Drive?
A couple of pilots have made forced landings on DuSable Lake Shore Drive. What makes a road or any other non-airport spot the best option in an emerge...
A Curious City Halloween: Scary stories from spooked Chicagoans
Three stories from Chicagoans who endured a terrifying experience that they couldn’t explain, couldn’t get over, or couldn’t escape.
Ka...
Gone and nearly forgotten: Lincoln Park’s High Bridge
A bridge constructed for sightseeing during the turn of the century soon became known as a place for death. If you or someone you know is struggling w...
The unsung legacy of Margaret Burroughs: ‘We called her mama’
Margaret Burroughs was a force to be reckoned with. An artist and a poet in Chicago from the 1920s until her death in 2010, she was also a teacher, an...
Chicago is a jazz city, but where are the jazz radio stations?
The city is home to a vibrant jazz scene and the Chicago Jazz Festival. But WDCB is the only all-jazz radio station in the region. Why isn't there mor...
How a group of volunteers saved a rare Illinois wildflower
The Kankakee mallow is one of the rarest plants on the continent, according to the Smithsonian Garden in Washington D.C. It’s a pink flower that grows...
What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?
There’s a hole in the map of Chicago. It turns out, it’s a cemetery. But there are many other cemeteries in Chicago that don’t show up as holes on the...
The tale of the two-flat
You know the building: Two stories, an apartment unit on each floor, usually with bay windows and a facade of brick or greystone.
But...
‘Women adrift’: How single women lived independently in early Chicago
At the turn of the century in Chicago, single women without a husband or family were considered to be "adrift," but they weren’t drifting at all. They...
‘Friendship set to music’: Curious City goes square dancing on the South Side
It’s a Thursday night and a group of folks in Washington Heights do-si-do to the bassline from “Shake Your Groove Thing” by Peaches & Herb. Square dan...
Square dance clubs used to be bumping on the weekends
Square dancing was once so popular that a center opened in the suburbs dedicated to the hobby. Today, veteran dancers are trying to recruit new fans.
Is your local mall dying, thriving or evolving?
Malls hold a special spot in the hearts of many Americans of a certain age. One may have been the setting for your first date, the place you caught a...
What was Ford City Mall like in its heyday?
Vacant shops and faded signs, Ford City Mall is in the process of being sold. But this shell of a shopping center was once a bustling hub, especially...
What happened after a dangerous year inside Cook County Jail
The year 2023 was a deadly one at the Cook County Jail. Eighteen people died in custody, “for many reasons,” said reporter Carlos Ballesteros, who rep...
What is that supply tent outside of Cook County Jail?
Almost every night, a group of volunteers sets up a table of supplies. Their goal is to assist everyone who is being released; from bottled water to a...
Apple slices are a nearly forgotten piece of Chicago pastry history
Apple slices were a favorite Chicago pastry decades ago. Not many bakeries sell them today, but the dessert still has avid fans who hold on to its nos...
Do pigs need rescuing?
The story of Pigasus, who unknowingly accepted the Youth International Party (Yippie) nomination for president in Daley Plaza in 1968, shows that some...
What happened to Chicago’s presidential pig?
During the demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, activists trotted out a pig named Pigasus for president. Her campaign was cut...
What’s the oldest book in circulation at the Chicago Public Library?
Curious City went out to find the oldest book in circulation at the Chicago Public Library. Turns out, the title is over 200 years old, and you can st...
School is in session, and we put the CPS butter cookie to the test
Summer is coming to an end, and it’s time to go back to school.
Today, the number of Chicago Public School students complaining about s...
School lunch used to pass the test
Some Chicago Public School alumni say school lunch used to be delicious, which might shock current students. How did school lunch go from delicious to...
What’s the history of Chinese gangs in Chicago?
Chicago is known for crime bosses like Al Capone, but the city is also home to two Chinese gangs that were once fierce rivals. This story first aired...
What a failed robbery from 1951 tells us about Chicago crime
A courageous Chicagoan once helped foil a robbery by men in butcher smocks — a little-known gang from a bygone era of crime in the city.
The other organizations empowering Chicago’s Chinatown
Community organizations are helping Chinatown residents preserve what long-standing family associations helped build.
What happened to Chinatown’s family associations?
Family associations were once the backbone of social and economic organization for Chicago’s Chinatown. Their evolution over the decades tells the his...
Is women’s pro softball here to stay?
What is it about softball?
“What is it not about softball?” replies Megan Faramio, a star pitcher for the Talons in the all-new Athlete...
A league of Chicago’s Own: The other women’s pro league of the 1940s
There was the Rockford Peaches, women’s pro baseball team of the 1940s that was celebrated in the movie "A League of Their Own." But there was also a...
Car, bike, public transit: What’s the best way to get around town?
What would win in a race between a car, bike and the Chicago Transit Authority?
Over the past few years, Chicago has been abuzz with ro...
Who thought traffic circles were a good idea? Do we need them?
Mini traffic circles at the intersections of residential streets might annoy drivers because they force cars to slow down. But their safety features o...
The curious case of the Swami Vivekananda Way street sign
Swami Vivekananda is credited with introducing Hinduism to the West. His work earned him an honorary street sign on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, but it...
Chicago’s LGBTQ+ library is a space for people to ‘find themselves in the shelves’
Early LGBTQ+ history can be hard to find. Photos, letters, literature and other artifacts have been destroyed or hidden away, in acts of homophobia, o...