Curious City

Epizode

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  How Ella Jenkins’ Chicago childhood shaped her iconic children’s music 16.09.2026 22min

  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. 
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  Did Chicago invent the rage room? A look inside “the Frustration Room” 09.09.2026 21min

  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.
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  How did a native Chicago plant disappear forever? 02.09.2026 18min

  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.
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  Why is the island in Washington Park behind a locked gate? 26.08.2026 15min

  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.
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  School lunch used to ace the test 19.08.2026 18min

  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?
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  Shipwrecks, mussels and sponges: Chicago is a scuba diving destination 12.08.2026 22min

  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.
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  Chicago has many block club signs. What are block clubs and what do they do? 05.08.2026 17min

  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.
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  “Like getting paid to party”: The life of cover bands on the Chicago festival circuit 29.07.2026 20min

  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.
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  Is that a lobster in the Chicago River? 22.07.2026 14min

  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.
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  ‘Give while you live’: Who is Museum of Science and Industry founder Julius Rosenwald? 15.07.2026 16min

  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. 
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  A good lake, not a Great Lake 08.07.2026 21min

  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.
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  Why does Chicago have so little love for the ‘Watchdog’ of the lakefront? 01.07.2026 25min

  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?
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  Is This Your Card? A Brief History Of Chicago-style Magic 24.06.2026 22min

  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.
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  Where did the term 'Chicagoland' come from? 17.06.2026 15min

  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.
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  How did Hollywood Beach become Chicago’s ‘gay beach’? 10.06.2026 19min

  The stretch of beach that starts where DuSable Lake Shore Drive ends wasn’t always as vibrant or as ‘gay’ as it is today. Its transition was spearheaded by Jerry Marcoccia, who was searching for a sense of belonging in the 1990s. "You can't talk about this beach being gay without including me,” he said.
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  Why does Chicago use Comic Sans on some elevator inspection certificates? 03.06.2026 15min

  Comic Sans often signals levity or sarcasm. The font is occasionally used for a key phrase in some official city elevator inspection certificates. That’s caused concern for some Chicagoans, including at least two Curious City listeners. Stand-up clips in this episode were from comedian @EricSchwartz.
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  Does Chicago have a Filipino neighborhood? 27.05.2026 22min

  A concentrated Filipino community area is not as easy to spot as neighborhoods like Chinatown or Little Village. In this episode, we’ll look at the long history Filipinos have had in Chicago stretching back to the early 1900s. We’ll also look at how Filipino restaurants have made a mark across the city in recent years, from Jefferson Park to Pilsen. Originally published in February 2025.
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  Why are there helicopters flying over my neighborhood every night? 20.05.2026 19min

  Curious City listeners wondered if helicopters they heard buzzing around their Chicago neighborhoods at night were part of the federal government’s immigration enforcement. There is some truth to that, but it turns out odd helicopter flights have been a curiosity long before Midway Blitz.
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  Why does Chicago have a monument named for fascist leader Italo Balbo? 13.05.2026 30min

  There’s an ancient Roman column in Chicago hidden in plain sight near Soldier Field. It was a gift given by Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini during the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair, commemorating a daring transatlantic flight to the fair by Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo. In a time when controversial monuments get removed, why does this one still stand? (0:26) Balbo Monument Written sources: “Italo Balbo: A Fascist Life” by Claudio Segré “Broken Icarus: The 1933 Chicago World's Fair, the Golden Age of Aviation, and the Rise of Fascism” by David Hanna “Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History” by Ali Abdullatif Ahmida “Italo Balbo's Flight to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair” by Don Fiore  “The meaning of monuments : Remembering Italo Balbo in Italy and the United States” by Nick Carter “Italian Colonialism” edited by Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Mia Fuller
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  Standing on history: Who built Chicago’s WPA sidewalks? 06.05.2026 17min

  Have you ever noticed a branded stamp in the sidewalk? Keen-eyed Chicagoans have found some that date back to Depression-era infrastructure projects by the Works Progress Administration. Who were the workers behind the WPA and why did they brand Chicago sidewalks? We explore the labor history under our feet.