Curious City

<p>The City of Chicago employs 20 full-time blacksmiths. But what do they do? And what's with the ancient job title?<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/dUMs3Igjd_E" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>A 2015 Senate investigation found that the DOD did in fact pay college sports teams to stage patriotic tributes at games. Curious City finds out whether they still do.</p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/Z3pMuhK1F04" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Some wards vote on how to spend some taxpayer money. Does it help spread the wealth or is it just a feel-good exercise?<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/foKehMadJr4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p><span>It took decades for Chicago's first and only female mayor to land an official honor from City Council. Is there a reason it took so long?</span><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/1i88IcleH_U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Curious City finds out where your poop goes by taking a journey through the Chicago-area sewer system.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/Fy5Yr3veNQo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>The recorder often inflicts squeaky torture on parents. Music teacher Valerie DePriest explains why it became a staple in music education. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/1HDuSLWsz6U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Names like Marquette and Joliet are cited in history books. But it was Native Americans who first set Chicago on a path to develop into a major metropolis.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/78S862jmQoc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>From Chicago Heights to Mount Prospect, here's why Chicago suburb names flat out lie about their elevation.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/X8qzUqlw58k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>The listings are there — just in Chinese. Is this a form of discrimination, or a way to preserve a neighborhood's character?<!--EndFragment--><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/p7KqgprtWwo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>The answer has to do with shifting ideas about bikes and the proper way to mourn the dead. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/RpHcfUlxxUI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>The good news is Chicago probably won’t be hit by hurricanes and earthquakes. But the area is becoming more vulnerable to other disasters. <!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/TUsOB8o3f8Q" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Chicago area Muslim leaders weigh in, and they open up about what divides and unites the community.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/neAKyuFdYW4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Architect Dwight Perkins' ambitious plan to save Chicago's natural landscapes raised a question: Which kinds of nature deserve to be preserved? <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/eaw2sluSXF8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>The brainchild of a 22-year-old executive, the White Sox look hit a home run with fans and, half a century later, rappers. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/8l6zIk1n5DM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Don your dancing shoes as we track down the Chicago band members, musicians, and dancers who helped create five iconic moves. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/tXZPbfSBCuc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>John Connors says swimming naked in high school gym class was “torture.” <i>Curious City</i> looks at why schools enforced the policy for decades.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/nF69YZbQkXI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Camp Douglas’ deadly reputation was kept in shadows but now there’s a surprising movement to bring it to light.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/TGydp2ujbWU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p></p><p>Being a paleta vendor may seem like a sweet life, but we learned that selling Mexican popsicles is anything but a walk on the beach. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/8ahJA_dS3NY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>The city deserves cred as an industrial giant, but it was also the first city of flowers, a pickle powerhouse and the heart of American celery. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/eerctYTKhjs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Lake View once had a thriving Japanese community, but it fell victim to a push for assimilation. As one Japanese-American puts it: “You had to basically be unseen.” <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/J7Q4d77WXTQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>A quick tour of places where residents would chill, get clean and — sometimes — get down. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/SQ1veLD8DQk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>On paper, Chicago is more integrated than it was a few decades ago. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/kk18YIIGBLo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>From 1912 to 1930, the famous poet and writer lived and worked in the Chicago area. Step back in time to experience Sandburg's Chicago.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/CajKKqQuL-M" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>A listener’s nostalgia for catching lightning bugs as a kid lead her to wonder: Are there any left these days? Our experts say they’re around, just really, really fickle.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/S9lsXuU2Dq8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p><br><br><!--StartFragment--><span>Here’s why you shouldn’t take that "sand between your toes" experience for granted!</span><!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/HTpUk_NmTRY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Chicago's notorious light pollution hides the stars, but here's where you have a fighting chance to peek at the heavens.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/jkKhVwKKVSc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Forty years ago, it would have been nearly impossible to find an otter in Illinois, never mind Chicago. Today, could they be here to stay?<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/tGZX5cpLn4U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>A multi-generational panel talks about what the neighborhood means to them and where they see its future. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/r2aHZu4hh8M" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>We look at<a href="https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/whats-with-that-odd-closet-what-chicagos-architectural-clues-reveal-about-how-we-live/03b20d19-139a-4a9d-9d3b-4d96508f74c1" target=""> eight building features and what each reveals about how society</a> and urban life has changed over the years. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/JkTUsrsn8q8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Engineers once compared Chicago’s soggy soil to jelly cake. How did they build a forest of skyscrapers on it?<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/cgKZyJzY0B8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Most aldermen almost always vote with the mayor, but that's starting to change. <br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/srBli4tUsmQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p><span></span></p><p>In the past decade the city paid out nearly $3 million drivers whose cars were damaged by poor road conditions. Is asphalt to blame?</p><p><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/Qjmqczrfwx0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Political activism and businesses helped shape the city's gay neighborhood, but <a href="http://interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/makingboystown/" target="">there's a debate about its future</a>.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/5ZbW1LlmY-A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>When a flight gets cancelled, it's not only travel plans that get trashed.<!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/vLL6LUsljyE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Was there ever a Nazi neighborhood in Chicago? In this <a href="http://interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/chicagonazineighborhood/" target="">special Curious City mini-documentary and online presentation (complete with archival photos and video)</a>, we tell the story of how an infamous neo-Nazi group settled in the Marquette Park neighborhood and used it as a home base to gain attention and promote its political agenda. The story of the group’s rise and fall on Chicago’s Southwest Side raises questions about the extent of free speech and how mainstream racism in any neighborhood can encourage hate groups.  <!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/NP6-ffAHp5Y" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Scabby the Rat is now common on picket lines around the world, but the balloon started in Chicago’s historically blue-collar suburbs.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/MOGw_zO9xlw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Officials say the Jane Addams Tollway will soon be faster, safer and smarter. But will it deliver?<br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/sbaDzAEuxOQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Medical calls outnumber fire calls 20 to one in Chicago. So why does the city own so many more fire trucks than ambulances?<br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/GrSkjZSTj1U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Tom Skilling explains why most TV meteorologists don't talk about climate change, but should. <!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/PppW2x93dEw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>There are plenty, but let's just say they're not ready for a nuclear apocalypse.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/6pwh36EcrEw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>A prospective Chicago parent wants to know where he could be within door-knocking distance of other families with kids. So we mapped them.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/EOgRecMxD4U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Chicago-style hot dogs are a beloved culinary masterpiece: A snappy all-beef wiener, steamed poppy seed bun, yellow mustard, chopped onions, neon-green relish, two slices of tomato, a dill pickle spear, two sport peppers and a final whoosh of celery salt.</p> <p>But how did that unique mix of ingredients come to be? In a special Curious City presentation, Chicago’s premier hot dog expert breaks down the history of each ingredient. It’s a tale of immigration to Chicago’s Maxwell street neighborhood a century ago. <a href="http://interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/chicagohotdog" target="">Click here for the full story</a>.</p> <p><i>Monica Eng is a WBEZ food and health reporter. Follow her at<a href="https://twitter.com/monicaeng"><span><span> </span></span><span>@monicaeng</span></a> </i></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/hnq2AdGTMqg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Coffee shops, hospital waiting rooms and train cars are a few of the places Chicago’s homeless go to escape the cold. <!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/U_oTPEEdnQE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>After her neighbor adopted five goats, Jeanne Cuff wondered about Chicago's livestock laws.<!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/g_O0k0TObBQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>We explore a phenomenon called “cuffing” and the (short) lengths Chicagoans will go for love.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/kkRgwj2LK_s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Sidewalk grates make people feel uneasy. An anxiety expert said this uneasiness is rooted in something much deeper.<br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/j7YUBEfG31o" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Two Albany Park chefs fused Chinese and Korean flavors, giving birth to the chicken lollipop.<!--EndFragment--><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/unZp6fmrkXY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>We uncover the history and bask in the glow of a ubiquitous Chicago bar sign.<!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/1X1_MU0sxWc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p>Complete with video and archival images,<a href="https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/whos-your-chinaman-the-origins-of-an-offensive-piece-of-chicago-political-slang/af7199cc-f87c-4e3b-9b57-7e7f515cc1de" target=""> we track down the offensive phrase’s roots and consider whether it’s time to retire it.</a><!--EndFragment--><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/YMmyCic3wAY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

<p><a href="https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/icebreakers-of-the-chicago-river-how-bubblers-boats-and-brawn-keep-the-city-safe-each-winter/55b934b6-0c6c-46f8-8b6a-30894174df7c">How bubblers, boats and brawn keep the city safe each winter.</a><span> </span><!--EndFragment--><br><br><br></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CuriousCityPodcast/~4/VSi3L39L8dQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>