Curious City

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**Curious City**

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

Latest Episodes:

‘Pure chaos’: Why did Chicagoans once move on the same day? May 07, 2025

Show notes

You think moving is hard work? For about 100 years, Chicagoans used to move at the same time. Moving Day: May 1.

The complicated statue of labor leader Samuel Gompers Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

Samuel Gompers fought for the eight-hour work day and helped create child labor laws. But for all he achieved, he was also fiercely anti-immigrant. We explore Gompers’ life, legacy and the statue built to this complicated man.

Maria Rodriguez: From fashion designer to restaurateur Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

In our last episode, Curious City question-asker Emily Porter sent us on a quest exploring the world of local fashion designers, all after she found a thrift shop sweater with a tag that reads: “Maria Rodriguez Chicago.”

Who is Maria Rodriguez? How did she get into the industry? And what is it like to be a fashion designer in Chicago?

To answer those questions, we take a trip to the basement of the Chicago History Museum, where collection manager Jessica Pushor has archived several Maria Rodriguez ensembles and a case file of news clippings, photos and look books. We also stopped by El Nuevo Mexicano, a Mexican restaurant in Lakeview that Rodriguez now owns and operates, to get the story from the fashion designer herself.

Like NYC and Paris, Chicago was a hub for fashion designers Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

A question about a sweater in a thrift store turns into a search for a prominent Chicago designer of the 1980s. Along the way, we discover the city’s golden age of fashion designers.

How sweet the sound: The history of Evanston folk coffeehouse Amazingrace Apr 17, 2025

Show notes

Folk music surged in popularity across America in the late 1950s through the ‘70s, including here in the Chicago area. Last episode, we looked at how a few area coffeehouses catered to many patrons in their teens and early twenties. These were alcohol-free spaces where people could listen to live music and hangout for hours.

Curious City host Erin Allen looks at one of those beloved coffeeshops of the 1970s: Amazingrace, which was born out of Vietnam War protests on the campus of Northwestern University and later moved to the heart of downtown Evanston. She was joined by a panel of Amazingrace founders, performers and patrons at last year’s Evanston Folk Festival.

WBEZ is a programming partner of the Evanston Folk Festival, which is taking place this year Sept. 6-7, 2025. A pre-sale is happening now through April 22. Enter the code EFFWBEZ to access the sale.

‘An underground subculture’: How Chicago coffeehouses shaped the folk revival movement Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

In the 1960s and 70s, Chicago coffeehouses were popular spots for young people. These were alcohol-free establishments where people in their teens and 20s could listen to live music or just hangout for hours.

You May Also Like: Stories Without End Apr 13, 2025

Show notes

Introducing WBEZ's latest podcast series, Making: Stories Without End. Host Natalie Moore takes you on a journey to learn about daytime soap operas and their broad reach on television. From the early radio days in the 1930s through the invention of TV to streaming, this way of telling immersive stories has endured. There are intergenerational family stories, discussions about divorce and abortion, groundbreaking storylines dealing with queer representation. And all these threads go back to one Chicago woman, Irna Phillips. The queen of soaps originated, wrote or supervised more than a dozen daytime serials for more than 40 years… and left a lasting mark on the television industry. You’ll hear the story behind the stories from scholars, actors, writers – from the past and now – as well as fans.

Is extremist ideology still fringe? Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

Extremism in America has been on the rise.

Last episode, we looked at extremist groups in Chicago and how they terrorized select groups of people and influenced housing policy in the city during the 1950s. But what does extremism look like today? Curious City host Erin Allen talks with Odette Yousef, a national security correspondent focusing on extremism at NPR, about why it’s less about fringe groups and more about ideology that has permeated our culture.

“January 6 was a good example of how everything has changed,” she says. “That to me was really a milestone in terms of how extremism looks in this country, because I think we have long expected it to come out of small cells or groups. And here it was just everyday Americans who had gotten really kind of radicalized until the point where they participated in the violence that day.”

She also talks about how extremism has shown up in Chicago and how the city compares with other large American cities.

How much influence did white supremacist groups have on Chicago housing? Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

Extremist groups of the 1950s played a violent part, alongside real estate and neighborhood organizations, in keeping Chicago segregated.

What's up with the Chicago's feral cats? Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

Chicago is home to thousands of feral cats, and some people are looking after them.

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