Curious City

A curious listener asked why he saw an aviary at O'Hare Airport. It turns out, it isn't an aviary at all — it’s a trap for an invasive species of bird.

Airplanes aren’t the only ones flying around at the airport. Birds often get stuck inside the terminal, and they can be a challenge to get out.

November is National Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate and recognize the history, culture and contributions of Indigenous people in our country. If you look around Chicago, you see echoes of Native American history in names like Washtenaw, Skokie and Wabash. But Indigenous history is often presented from a settler or non-Native perspective. Today, we get into a project out of the...

Chicago histories usually start in 1830, but Native Americans were already settled in the region long before that. Curious City fills you in on what some history books are missing.

When you think of a family business, one of two images probably comes to mind: either the mom and pop shop around the corner or the dysfunctional family from “Succession.” But actually, “it could be anything,” says Jennifer M. Pendergast, family enterprise consultant and professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Last episode, we looked into the oldest family business in...

Tracking down the oldest family business in the city is not as easy as it seems. The city’s business records only go back to 2002. Time for a fishing expedition.

A Curious City listener wanted to know about the decline of frogs in our area. We looked into what’s been happening with these species over the last couple decades in Chicago. It turns out, frogs are some of the animals we call “indicator species.” How well or poorly they’re doing in their habitat can tell us about the health of our own. And they’re not the only ones; there are numerous plants and...

Frogs have been on the decline in the Chicago area. The health of the frog population tells us a lot about the health of our environment.

It’s spooky season, a time when we often visit haunted houses and think about the paranormal. And if you live in the Chicago area, you’ve probably seen billboards and ads for the Old Joliet Haunted Prison. But at one point, it was an actual prison. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, questions about the paranormal can serve as an entry into the historical context of a place. Last episode, we vis...

The Old Joliet Prison has been around since the 1800s. Some visitors swear they’ve experienced the paranormal there. But do ghost stories detract from the specter of a truly dark history?

The origins of "Chicagoland" can be traced back to nearly 100 years ago. Back then, it encompassed an area that went beyond the suburbs.

Chicago collects thousands of tons of garbage each year. We answer some questions about garbage, and follow an all-women collection crew on the job.

Margaret Burroughs is well known as the founder of the DuSable Museum. Perhaps lesser known is her decades long work teaching art to incarcerated men. In collaboration with the Burroughs Legacy Project at the Invisible Institute, we hear reflections from Burroughs' former students.

Polish immigrants came to Chicago to make a living, and for a time, they got to hang out every weekend with some of Poland’s biggest stars at a small club in the city.

It's easy to spot a vintage Schwinn bike zooming around the city. The family business was rooted in Chicago.

CTA workers compete against each other to see who is the best bus driver, train operator, mechanic and janitorial staff. The annual competition dates back to the early 1980s.

There have been reports of a strange winged creature around the Chicago area. We try to find out what the heck is going on.

Listening to an outdoor concert is a typical Chicago summer activity. But hearing that concert a few neighborhoods away? We look at how sound travels in the city.

Many cities around the country once had a so-called ugly law that targeted poor and disabled people. Chicago’s law stayed on the books until the 1970s.

In the 1920s, young women working at a radium dial company in Ottawa, Illinois were being poisoned. Surviving "radium girls" would go on to participate in studies at Argonne National Laboratory.

The bitter liquor has been around for about a century, but Malört's rise to Chicago icon status is a more recent story.

As Chicago prepares to host the Democratic National Convention, we look back at a volatile year: 1968.

Soccer is popular in Chicago, but it falls behind the popularity of sports like football, baseball and basketball. But in the 1920s, the popularity of soccer rivaled that of baseball.

Cook County has a lot of artificial lakes. Many of them were once large pits left behind by major construction projects. Now, they serve as habitats for wildlife and recreation for residents.

Many Irish immigrants settled in Chicago in the late 1800s, and opened up pubs to make a living, but for a sense of community. We explore the history and why there are so many Irish pubs today.