Curious City

Chicago has a rich and sometimes sordid past, making it ripe for creepy, perhaps paranormal activity. In that spirit, Curious City recently hosted a live event at the Empty Bottle called “Tales from the Curious Crypt,” where storyteller Jonathan Pitts told an eerie tale of working late nights at the Athenaeum, Vocalo’s Nudia Hernandez talked about the ghost that haunted her family and storyteller Lily Be explained why things were vanishing during a particularly difficult time in her life.

Nuclear power is Illinois’ biggest source of energy — over 50% — and nukes are once again in the spotlight as AI data centers jack up the demand for energy. What does this massive spike in demand mean for consumers in Illinois? Why are our electric bills continuing to rise? And are we at risk of major blackouts, the kind Chicago experienced in the 1990s?

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 map, so what’s up with this one? We take you to the 19th Ward and explore the history of this dead zone.

This story was first published April 11, 2024. Mt. Greenwood Cemetery is now owned by Troost Cemeteries.

In Chicago, it was house. In Detroit, it was techno. The two genres ushered a new electronic sound into the dance music world. Despite their proximity and shared roots in disco, some consider them rivals. But are they? And what about their adjacent dance cultures, Detroit jit and Chicago footwork?

Curious Midwest is a collaboration between Curious City, WUWM’s Bubbler Talk and WDET’s CuriousiD. We’re answering listener questions about the connections between these cities.

WBEZ’s Erin Allen and WDET’s Bre’Anna Tinsley focus on Detroit and Chicago, the two cities that became ground zero for electronic dance music and footwork from the Midwest.

For over a century, the Midwest had been defined by what we made, including cars, steel, and beer. But during 75 years of deindustrialization, Chicago lost over half a million manufacturing jobs. Milwaukee lost almost 100,000 jobs. And for some in Detroit, it feels like the whole city was lost.

Curious Midwest is a collaboration between Curious City, WUWM’s Bubbler Talk and WDET’s CuriousiD. We’re answering listener questions about the connections between these cities.

This week, WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez looks at how de-industrialization hit the Midwest and why recovery wasn’t the same for everyone.

In Chicago, it’s the Chicago dog. In Milwaukee, the bratwurst. In Detroit, the Coney dog. Each is a little different, but their origin stories are connected.

In a limited series we’re calling “Curious Midwest,” Curious City teamed up with WUWM Milwaukee’s Bubbler Talk and WDET Detroit’s CuriosiD to explore our midwestern links (pun intended).

Today, why are these hyper-specific encased meats associated so strongly with these three cities? And which is the best?

From school assemblies to “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood,” Ella Jenkins was a rhythm specialist and children’s music pioneer. Her childhood in Chicago was her launching pad.

Jenkins forged a path in the music industry during a time when children’s musicians didn’t really exist. She persevered through the civil rights era, took ownership of her music in an industry that often took advantage of women and made the focus about children.

Today, we bring you a conversation about this music icon, who harnessed curiosity, life experience and charisma to create some of the most unique and prolific art of the 20th century.

Professor of American studies at George Washington University Gayle Wald sat down with Curious City Editor Susie An at the 2025 Evanston Folk Festival to talk about Jenkins’ life. Wald is the author of “This is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music and the Long Civil Rights Movement.”

This episode was originally published on Feb. 11, 2026.

The Frustration Room appeared in a Chicago motel in 1962 and offered visitors the opportunity to smash objects — like a lamp base, a lightbulb or an ashtray — in a space dedicated to relieving frustration. One Curious City listener remembers visiting three times and wanted to know: who thought of this place, why, and what ever happened to it? We look into the Frustration Room’s origins and its next of kin — including a local “rage room” and a “scream club” — to ask if this kind of venting really works.

Thismia americana enjoys near-cult-status among Chicago botanists, ecologists and plant enthusiasts. The tiny, bell-shaped flower hasn't been seen since the early 1900s, but that hasn't stopped believers from trying to find Chicago's most elusive plant once more.

A reporter and a team of scientists went hunting for thismia americana to see if, over a hundred years later, it could be re-discovered.

Bynum Island was once a gem in Chicago’s Washington Park, but now it’s abandoned, overgrown and inaccessible to the public. Curious City looks into why, and whether the island will ever reopen.

Former Chicago Public Schools students say school lunch used to be delicious decades ago. That comes as a surprise to current CPS students, who give lunchroom offerings mixed reviews. Also missing from the menu is a once popular butter cookie. What happened to tasty school lunches and this iconic cafeteria cookie?

One of the world’s largest scuba organizations was founded in the Chicago suburbs by Portage Park pool swim instructor Ralph Erickson. Decades later and Chicago still has a small but mighty scuba diving scene, driven in part by Lake Michigan’s many well-preserved shipwrecks. So Curious City jumped into Lake Michigan and talked with people in the local diving community who are carrying on the area’s surprisingly-robust scuba legacy.

Block club signs are all over the city, usually welcoming you to the neighborhood or telling you what you should or should not do while you’re there. A Curious City listener said they often see these signs on their way to work, and they wondered about the story behind them. What is a block club, what’s their history and who are the people involved? We visited two: the Ada United Block Club of 61st and 62nd and The Westside Block Club Association.

Once summer hits, local cover bands are busy working Chicago’s many street festivals. What’s life like for cover band musicians? Curious City spoke with three bands that are regulars on the local festival circuit: The Gingers, Too Much Molly Band, and Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute.

It’s an invasive species that doesn’t seem harmful at first glance. But if they go unchecked, these little things can disrupt local ecologies.

The Museum of Science and Industry was renamed in 2024 in recognition of megadonor Ken Griffin. The museum’s original founder, Julius Rosenwald, did not want to put his own name on the institution.

For a brief moment in the 1990s, Lake Champlain was known as the sixth Great Lake. The lake wedged between Vermont and New York doesn’t quite measure up to the five Great Lakes. So how did this happen? Curious City partners with the Points North podcast from Interlochen Public Radio to bring you the story.

The name Aaron Montgomery Ward might sound familiar, either from the chain of now-defunct department stores that once bore his name or as the catalog guy who revolutionized mail-order shopping over 150 years ago. His lesser-known legacy, perhaps, is his drawn out fight over Grant Park. Ward spent 22 years and upwards of $1 million in today’s dollars fighting to keep Chicago’s premier downtown park “forever open, clear and free” from buildings. But why did he do it? And why isn’t he celebrated more for his crusade?

Chicago-style magic is close up, funny and usually performed at a bar or
restaurant. We learn about its history and talk to several magicians who are part of
the tradition. This episode was originally published in 2024.

There’s no New York-land or Boston-land, so why does the Chicago
metropolitan area have its own unique name?

It turns out this has been a question on the minds of many Curious City listeners.
To learn more, we looked at the origins of this term, how its meaning has changed
over time and the media mogul — or Colonel — behind it all.

This episode originally aired in 2023.