Curious City

More than 1,100 people had to move due to pollution. We follow two of them as they fight to find housing.

The city says the show generates millions of dollars in business. But some listeners wonder whether it’s worth the environmental costs.

We find out why downtown became the go-to destination for Chicago’s tallest buildings, and whether that might change in the future.

Lots of famous comedians got their start in Chicago. Actor and improviser T.J. Jagodowski talks with Jimmy Carrane about why that’s the case.

Chicago has the nation's most extensive network of lead service lines, but city officials say drinking water is safe.

In this live podcast episode, two actors playing New York and Chicago duke it out over who will host the coveted 1893 World’s Fair.

One Chicagoan wonders why Chicago beaches ban things like rafts and boogie boards. But experts say there's good reason to leave them at home.

Chicago is home to an estimated 2,000 coyotes. To learn how they survive, Curious City joined researchers as they tracked down pups.

Long hours, fatigue, and boredom can be hazards of the job. But former rail operators say there’s a lot to love about driving an 'L' train.

When pollution invaded Ezell Foster’s East Chicago neighborhood, he found himself stuck between industry and a bureaucracy.

We curate an episode from WPLN’s podcast, ‘The Promise,’ a series about life in the James Cayce Homes, a public housing complex in Nashville.

We curate an episode of the WBEZ podcast, Nerdette, featuring an interview with comedian John Hodgman and the very Chicago story of Malört.

As lawmakers move to require additional training for police in Illinois schools, five young people weigh in on whether it will make a difference.

Do LED lights cause cancer? Can they really reduce crime? One kid is so concerned about LED streetlights that he called Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Lots of Mexican bakeries can be found near one another in neighborhoods like Pilsen. So how do they stay in business?

Editor’s Note: This story was first published in 2018. On a warm September night, a gunman walked into a West Side restaurant, greeted the manager, and shot him three times. Hours after the murder, Chicago cops were still trying to figure out if the shooting was gang-related, the Chicago Tribune reported. This may sound a lot like Chicago in 2018. But the murder actually happened in 1936. The alle...

Looking around Chicago today, you won’t find many stink balls or cannons—but did you know the city has ordinances regulating both? When these laws were first passed more than a century ago, aldermen may have believed they posed a real threat. But today, these old laws don’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. Logan Square resident Ty McCarthy was wondering whether Chicago had any outdated laws on t...

From a statue honoring police to a tribute to Confederate prisoners, these monuments have raised debate over how history is represented.

A Curious City fan asked us about an odd detail on an old Chicago map. Was it really a Native American burial mound?

How a Chicago-area family turned cheap plastic souvenirs into a nostalgia empire.

The light near Chicago Avenue causes mile-long backups. City officials are proposing a solution, but you might be in traffic for a while.

Robert K. Elder would love to decorate the walls in his living room with original paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago. So he was floored when a friend told him that her mom rented two pieces of artwork back in the day.  This was hard for Robert to imagine. Like, what would that even look like? Someone strolling onto Michigan Avenue with a rented Monet stuck in his or her backpack? Curious...

Beach weather one day and freezing rain the next: Chicago weather can be unpredictable, but how do we compare to other cities?

You asked about square slices, where the pepperoni goes, and the origins of the pizza puff. We dish it deep on nine questions you kneaded to know.

Former patients recall the tests, treatments, and trauma nearly 250,000 Chicagoans experienced over the sanitarium's near 60-year-long existence.