Curious City

724 - What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?

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Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.

More episodes

724 - What’s that dead zone in the 19th Ward?

Wed, 14 Oct 2026
723 - ‘Rivalry is our last name:’ Chicago and Detroit battle on the dancefloor

Wed, 07 Oct 2026
722 - Industrial jobs left Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Why did it hit these cities differently?

Wed, 30 Sep 2026
721 - Chicago, Milwaukee or Detroit: Which city has the best encased meats?

Wed, 23 Sep 2026
720 - How Ella Jenkins’ Chicago childhood shaped her iconic children’s music

Wed, 16 Sep 2026
719 - Did Chicago invent the rage room? A look inside “the Frustration Room”

Wed, 09 Sep 2026
718 - How did a native Chicago plant disappear forever?

Wed, 02 Sep 2026
717 - Why is the island in Washington Park behind a locked gate?

Wed, 26 Aug 2026
716 - School lunch used to ace the test

Wed, 19 Aug 2026
715 - Shipwrecks, mussels and sponges: Chicago is a scuba diving destination

Wed, 12 Aug 2026
714 - Chicago has many block club signs. What are block clubs and what do they do?

Wed, 05 Aug 2026
713 - “Like getting paid to party”: The life of cover bands on the Chicago festival circuit

Wed, 29 Jul 2026
712 - Is that a lobster in the Chicago River?

Wed, 22 Jul 2026
711 - ‘Give while you live’: Who is Museum of Science and Industry founder Julius Rosenwald?

Wed, 15 Jul 2026
710 - A good lake, not a Great Lake

Wed, 08 Jul 2026
709 - Why does Chicago have so little love for the ‘Watchdog’ of the lakefront?

Wed, 01 Jul 2026
708 - Is This Your Card? A Brief History Of Chicago-style Magic

Wed, 24 Jun 2026
707 - Where did the term 'Chicagoland' come from?

Wed, 17 Jun 2026
706 - How did Hollywood Beach become Chicago’s ‘gay beach’?

Wed, 10 Jun 2026
705 - Why does Chicago use Comic Sans on some elevator inspection certificates?

Wed, 03 Jun 2026
704 - Does Chicago have a Filipino neighborhood?

Wed, 27 May 2026
703 - Why are there helicopters flying over my neighborhood every night?

Wed, 20 May 2026
702 - Why does Chicago have a monument named for fascist leader Italo Balbo?

Wed, 13 May 2026
701 - Standing on history: Who built Chicago’s WPA sidewalks?

Wed, 06 May 2026
700 - ‘This is how I speak’: The influence of the Black Chicago accent

Thu, 23 Apr 2026
699 - How has the Black Chicago accent retained its Southern roots?

Wed, 22 Apr 2026
698 - The story of the Lady Elgin, the deadliest shipwreck in Great Lakes history

Thu, 09 Apr 2026
697 - What are Chicago area lighthouses used for?

Wed, 08 Apr 2026
696 - How early Black Chicagoans used photography to redefine their image

Thu, 26 Mar 2026
695 - What was Chicago's first art gallery?

Wed, 25 Mar 2026
694 - Chicago came under martial law after the Great Fire. Did it help?

Wed, 18 Mar 2026
693 - The ‘windmill capital of the world’ used to be down the road from Chicago

Thu, 12 Mar 2026
692 - Why aren’t there wind turbines in Lake Michigan?

Wed, 11 Mar 2026
691 - No cars, no road salt: How one Midwestern community avoids salt all winter

Thu, 26 Feb 2026
690 - How does a mild winter affect Chicago’s economy?

Wed, 25 Feb 2026
689 - What was it like for women working in Hoover’s FBI?

Thu, 19 Feb 2026
688 - Why did the FBI recruit girls from Catholic high schools?

Wed, 18 Feb 2026
687 - How Ella Jenkins’ Chicago childhood shaped her iconic children’s music

Thu, 12 Feb 2026
686 - What's the first Chicago public school named in honor of a Black person?

Wed, 11 Feb 2026
685 - Why did Chicago widen Ashland Avenue?

Thu, 05 Feb 2026
684 - Why is Ashland Avenue sometimes Ashland Boulevard?

Wed, 04 Feb 2026
683 - We can’t name ‘em all, but here are some of Chicago’s greatest films

Thu, 22 Jan 2026
682 - From ‘The Fugitive’ to ‘The Dark Knight,’ what’s the best movie filmed in Chicago?

Wed, 21 Jan 2026
681 - ‘Weather is cool’: Weird Chicago weather, from northern lights to water spouts

Thu, 15 Jan 2026
680 - When is it no longer ‘cooler by the lake’?

Wed, 14 Jan 2026
679 - ‘It felt like a secret’: Remembering Chicago’s Berlin nightclub

Thu, 08 Jan 2026
678 - What’s the story behind Berlin nightclub’s huge mural?

Wed, 07 Jan 2026
677 - Krampus is coming: The Christmas demon’s Chicago connection

Thu, 18 Dec 2025
676 - “A Christmas Carol”: An amateur actor’s journey into a Chicago holiday tradition

Wed, 17 Dec 2025
675 - The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois

Thu, 11 Dec 2025