Curious City

For over a century, the Midwest had been defined by what we made, including cars, steel, and beer. But during 75 years of deindustrialization, Chicago lost over half a million manufacturing jobs. Milwaukee lost almost 100,000 jobs. And for some in Detroit, it feels like the whole city was lost. 
Curious Midwest is a collaboration between Curious City, WUWM’s Bubbler Talk and WDET’s CuriousiD. We’re answering listener questions about the connections between these cities. 
This week, WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez looks at how de-industrialization hit the Midwest and why recovery wasn’t the same for everyone.

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 Milwaukee’s Bubbler Talk and WDET Detroit’s CuriosiD to explore our midwestern links (pun intended). 
Today, why are these hyper-specific encased meats associated so strongly with these three cities? And which is the best?

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.

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.

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.