Curious City

How should we decide what happens to our bodies when we die? And what implications does that decision have for the living? It’s common to think a burial at a cemetery is the final resting place for a loved one. But as we heard in our last episode , sometimes the need to progress as a society is in direct conflict with the desire to honor the dead. Today, we talk to one of the leaders of the Green...

The suburban village of Bensenville has a long history of getting eaten up by development. Resthaven Cemetery is a symbol of what remains.

Chicago — like so many other frigid American cities — can’t seem to kick its dependence on road salt. Last episode , we talked about why chloride from salt is harmful to both our natural and built environments. So we spent some time looking around for a cold-weather community that avoids using it altogether. And we found one! A little community way up north: Have you ever taken a ferry — or a plan...

Road salt helps us get around safely during snowy, Chicago winters. But salt is corrosive and harmful for the environment. Could the city ever go without road salt?

The Chicago area played a key role in Black aviation in the early 1900s. The founders of the first Black-owned airport learned to fly in Chicago and went on to teach thousands of others.

When Illinois legalized recreational use of marijuana five years ago, it came with a goal to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. “We’re addressing the past harms of discriminatory prosecution of drug laws,” Governor J.B. Pritzker said at the time. Many low level cannabis charges would automatically be expunged and legal aid would be made available. Last episode , we looked at two areas where the...

The state has made about $500 million in marijuana tax revenue since the state legalized recreational use. Social programs have benefited from those funds, but experts say it won’t last forever.

What does it take to get a wrongful conviction overturned? Quite a lot, according to investigative reporter Alison Flowers, who says proving innocence is much more difficult than proving guilt. She has investigated the cases of many wrongfully convicted individuals, including that of Chicagoan Robert Johnson. In our last episode , Invisible Institute reporter Erisa Apantaku explained how Johnson h...

We follow the case of Robert Johnson. Now, three decades after his arrest, a judge will decide whether to release him later this month.

Chicago is a city of food as much as it is a city of neighborhoods and cultural communities. Last episode , we talked about how Chicago may not have a concentrated Filipino enclave, in the way neighborhoods like Chinatown and Humboldt Park are cultural hubs. But the community comes together and supports each other nonetheless. And Filipino food in Chicago is definitely a part of that. This cultura...

While a concentrated community area might not be as easy to spot as a neighborhood like Chinatown or Little Village, the Filipino community has a long history in Chicago that stretches back to the early 1900s.

It’s no secret that last year was the worst year in Chicago sports. Last episode we got into what that means for future fans. But 2024 wasn’t the absolute worst for every individual Chicago team. Sometimes a bad season isn’t defined by a long losing streak or a record number of losses. Sometimes it’s the internal turmoil and drama on the team. Today, we take a look at the individual worst years fo...

Collectively, 2024 was the worst year for Chicago sports teams. Chicago fans are used to remaining faithful to some loveable losers. But the younger generation of sports fans aren’t as forgiving.

Travel times and transit delays are part of the daily commute. There's a lot of chaos and information to sift through to bring you those traffic reports.

Roadside attractions aren’t always the kitschy photo op we imagine them to be. Some have a complicated history that you can’t see from the side of the road. Last episode , we took a road trip to Southern Illinois to look into a metal, firebreathing dragon. Today, we’re looking at a different landmark in nearby Alton: the Piasa. Unlike the Kaskaskia dragon, the Piasa has a centuries-old history tha...

As many as 40,000 people have come to see this downstate roadside attraction: a metal dragon, as big as a school bus, with a flamethrower in its mouth. Curious City takes a road trip out of Chicago to get the story behind this dragon.

When it comes to picking the most consequential year in Chicago’s history, 1919 rises to the top for many historians because of how the race riots that year had a big impact on how the city segregates itself. But our experts agree that picking one pivotal year in the city’s history is impossible. Of course, years like 1871 or 1893 stand out for the Great Chicago Fire and the World’s Columbian Expo...

Historians say it’s an impossible question to answer. Major events have shaped Chicago from its very start in 1837, but one year stands out.

From mail carriers to photographers, we asked people who spend a lot of time in the cold how they stay warm.

Pop-up tree lots sprout up on every Chicago corner during the holiday season, only to disappear. Who are the people who make these happen and what's the business like? As one operator says, "It’s fast, it’s furious and it’s over in about three and a half weeks."

The CTA Holiday Train started from humble beginnings. Then a holiday celebrity and his helpers turned it into a Chicago tradition.

Chicago is a city of pubs and taverns with a robust drinking culture. During the holiday season, that might mean sipping on some warm Swedish glögg, or, as we heard in our last episode, grabbing a Tom and Jerry at Miller’s Pub. But what about a Chicago-specific cocktail? “People really want us to have a cocktail,” said Liz Garibay, executive director of the Beer Culture Center. “It's like, you go...

The Tom & Jerry cocktail didn’t originate in Chicago, but this cakey drink feels very Midwestern. We get into the drunken history of this classic drink, and why it’s become a holiday tradition.

If you’ve ever shown up to a bar on a Sunday afternoon or listened to a concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, you’ve experienced firsthand the lasting impact of German culture in the city. Last episode, we went to Christkindlmarket, one of the most prominent examples of German culture in Chicago. There are key organizations like the Goethe Institute and DANK Haus. But there are also more subt...

A Curious City listener collects Christkindlmarket mugs. But there’s one mug in her collection without a year on it. We go in search of that lost year.