Episodes

  • ‘It felt like a secret’: Remembering Chicago’s Berlin nightclub

    ‘It felt like a secret’: Remembering Chicago’s Berlin nightclub
    Jan 8 2026
    Berlin nightclub in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood closed permanently in November 2023, after four decades in business. The closure happened amid stalled negotiations between the bar’s owners and its unionizing employees. Today, the space remains empty, and it’s unclear what will take its place. In our last episode, Curious City looked into a mural that was a staple at Berlin for much of its existence. Today, we revisit an episode of WBEZ’s The Rundown podcast from just after the club closed. In asking some of the people who worked there, danced there and made memories there, it’s obvious that Berlin was more than just a bar. “It felt like a secret almost,” said All The Way Kay, who DJed at Berlin for over 15 years. “It felt like something that you wanted to hold very, very close to you because spaces like that really don't exist.” We talked with Kay, queer historian Owen Keehnen, DJ Greg Haus and several listeners who called The Rundown podcast to share what Berlin meant to them and what they hope for the future.
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    23 mins
  • What’s the story behind Berlin nightclub’s huge mural?

    What’s the story behind Berlin nightclub’s huge mural?
    Jan 7 2026
    The large mural hung over the main bar at Berlin. Painted in the Art Deco style, the masculine and feminine figures in the painting watched over the nightly revelry at the storied nightclub until it closed in 2023.
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    7 mins
  • Krampus is coming: The Christmas demon’s Chicago connection

    Krampus is coming: The Christmas demon’s Chicago connection
    Dec 18 2025
    On the morning of St. Nicholas Day, good kids rush downstairs to see what kind of gifts might be in their shoes. The bad kids? Unfortunately they might get a visit from Krampus, an ancient monster that has naughty children praying for a lump of coal instead. The origins of this half-goat, half-man folklore character date back centuries, largely to German-speaking countries in Europe. But these days, Krampus is more popular than ever — especially in America, with parades, festivals, Hollywood horror films, Ocean Spray commercials and endless amounts of merchandise. That popularity is largely attributed to Chicagoan Monte Beauchamp, who first published images of Krampus in his alternative comic magazine, Blab!, in 2000. “I can't believe what's taken place since I introduced Krampus in the pages of Blab! Magazine, which led to a book, and then from there it just exploded,” Beauchamp told Curious City. In our last episode, we looked at a long-running holiday tradition in Chicago, Goodman Theatre’s rendition of “A Christmas Carol.” In today’s episode, we explore the origins of this very different kind of Christmas tradition and its curious local connection.
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    12 mins
  • “A Christmas Carol”: An amateur actor’s journey into a Chicago holiday tradition

    “A Christmas Carol”: An amateur actor’s journey into a Chicago holiday tradition
    Dec 17 2025
    The Christkindlmarket, the CTA holiday train and “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre. Chicago is full of holiday traditions. In this episode, we get an intimate look at the annual theater production through the eyes of our Chicago Sun-Times colleague, Stefano Esposito as he takes to the stage.
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    8 mins
  • The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois

    The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois
    Dec 11 2025
    The Robbins Airport, just southwest of Chicago, was the first Black-owned and -operated airport in the country. Its founders were pivotal to Black aviation.
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    20 mins
  • A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally

    A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally
    Dec 10 2025
    Lake Shore Drive has served as a makeshift runway for emergency landings. But it’s also been an *intentional* runway for planned arrivals. We go back to 1983 to get the story of how a Chicago institution helped turn our lakeside expressway into an airstrip, at least twice.
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    6 mins
  • How one organization is transforming Englewood’s vacant lots

    How one organization is transforming Englewood’s vacant lots
    Dec 4 2025
    The city of Chicago owns thousands of vacant lots, and more than 80 percent of those parcels are in communities where the population is at least 80 percent Black. That’s according to a report from the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. Residents and organizations are investing in these lots to improve the community. Last episode, we learned about how complicated it can be for individual homeowners to buy a vacant lot in their neighborhood. Today, we focus on an organization that is acquiring these types of spaces. Anton Seals, Jr. is the co-founder of Grow Greater Englewood, an organization that is doing innovative work on abandoned areas on the South Side. In the name of land sovereignty and building lasting community, he and his colleagues are transforming vacant lots into urban farms, a farmers market and a nature trail.
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    12 mins
  • Want to buy the vacant lot next door? It might take awhile

    Want to buy the vacant lot next door? It might take awhile
    Dec 3 2025
    Buying a city-owned lot seems like a simple process, but buying one might take longer than expected. The city puts a limited number of parcels up for sale each year.
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    7 mins