
Ask questions, vote and discover answers about Chicago, the region and its people. From WBEZ.
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 667 | Founded | 14 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Category | Arts | |||

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 Mi... more
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... more
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 pla... more
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.
People also subscribe to these shows.




The city is currently having its citizens kidnapped en mass. ANY Chicago-centric show should be featuring this!
Show has interesting topics but averaging 7 minutes a show, 2 and a half of which are ads or plugs for other shows, not really worth my time.
Overall, it’s been enjoyable listening to the various aspects of this wonderful city, however the show lacks so much detail now!
The shorter episodes, and in particular this last one on traffic are a complete waste of time.
Never did the episode go into the history of Chicago traffic or highway systems, touched on the backstory of the application and its development, or really explained how it works.
It fell short in so many ways- there was a depth of info that could have been useful and qui... more
I love how these short episodes delve into an aspect of Chicago history/culture!
Quick n easy n fun Chicago tidbits.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #207 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Curious City centers on Chicago and its surrounding region, exploring history, culture, infrastructure, and community life through a mix of investigative reporting, storytelling, and local voices. Episodes range from neighborhood block clubs and festival cultures to urban planning, public spaces, and city lore, often featuring reporters, historians, and community leaders. The show tends to spotlight under-told local stories with a craft-focused approach, balancing accessible storytelling with concrete context and practical takeaways for residents and policymakers alike. A notable strength is its ability to pair archival insight with contemporary voices, producing tangible connections between past and present Chicago life.
Listeners are lik... more
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Curious City. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Curious City and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for four million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Curious City, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Curious City, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Curious City has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Curious City:
1. City Cast Chicago
2. Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
3. This American Life
4. Points North | Great Lakes. Great Stories.
5. Fresh Air
Curious City launched 14 years ago and published 667 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Curious City from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Curious City. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Curious City include:
1. Justin Bull
2. Claudia Brennan
3. Bruce Craig
4. Fritz Usinger
5. Steve Dolinsky
6. Brianna Tinsley
7. Emily Files
8. Manny Hernandez
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.