Curious City - Are News Boxes A Thing Of The Past?
You’ll only see news boxes for free publications around today, but those papers are important for many people.
Curious City - The First Black-Owned And Operated Airport Was In Robbins
The Chicago area played a key role in Black aviation in the early 1900s. The founders of the first Black-owned airport learned to fly in Chicago and went on to teach thousands of others.
Curious City - The First Black-Owned And Operated Airport Was In Robbins
The Chicago area played a key role in Black aviation in the early 1900s. The founders of the first Black-owned airport learned to fly in Chicago and went on to teach thousands of others.
Curious City - Who’s Behind The CTA Holiday Train? Santa And The Elves!
The CTA Holiday Train started from humble beginnings. Then a holiday celebrity and his helpers turned it into a Chicago tradition.
Curious City - How Did Indian Boundary Park Get Its Name?
Indian Boundary Park on the city’s far north side is a symbol of Chicago’s complicated history with Indigenous people. We’ll explore that history, and current efforts to correct past wrongs.
Curious City - Two Tasty Treats For Thanksgiving Feasts
As you prepare to gather around the dinner table, Curious City brings you a couple of delicious food stories. First, we visit some Mexican bakeries around the city. Then, we go hunting for a long lost fried chicken recipe.
Curious City - Spare Rooms And Shared Spaces; Migrants Scramble To Find Housing Ahead Of Winter
Thousands of newly arrived migrants are sleeping in tents or shelters in Chicago. But with winter approaching, some residents are offering space in their homes. Curious City takes a look at the small scale housing alternatives migrants are taking.
Curious City - What Happened To Chicago’s Cuban Community?
Following the Cuban Revolution, many Cubans ended up settling in Chicago neighborhoods like Edgewater and Logan Square. Today, the community isn’t as visible as it is in places like Miami and New York City. We’ll look at what drew Cubans to Illinois and what sets Chicago’s Cuban community apart from others in the U.S.
Being Roman with Mary Beard - 6. Love in the Borderlands
At the very edge of Empire, inscribed on a beautifully carved tombstone, there’s a story of love across the tracks. On Hadrian’s Wall a slave girl from Hertfordshire and a lonely traveller from Syria meet and marry. The story of Regina and Barates has inspired poets and writers eager for a simple love story to illuminate a dark and dangerous world. But how true might this be? What brought this couple together across cultures and thousands of miles? Was their alliance true love or forced marriage?
Mary Beard tracks our couple from Palmyra to South Shields, revealing the cultural mix of the Empire and the power dynamics of slave and master with the help of Syrian poet, Nouri Al-Jarrah.
Producer: Alasdair Cross
Expert Contributors: Greg Woolf, University of California Los Angeles and Frances McIntosh, English Heritage
Cast: John Collingwood Bruce played by Josh Bryant-Jones and reading of The Stone Serpent by Tyler Cameron
Translation of The Stone Serpent: Catherine Cobham
Arabic Translation: Samira Kawar
Special thanks to Alex Croom and Tyne and Wear Museums
Being Roman with Mary Beard - 5. Battling Bureaucrats
What does it take to run an Empire? Armies and slaves, of course, but also bureaucrats. At its height the Roman Empire employed thousands of men charged with keeping Rome and its provinces fed, watered and content. This was no easy job. A remarkable set of papyrus scrolls reveals the life of Roman Egypt's very own David Brent, preparing for a a visit from the fearsome Emperor Diocletian.
Infuriated by hopeless staff and venal local politicians and continuously harassed by his superiors, Apolinarius of Panopolis becomes increasingly desperate as Diocletian approaches and the tension cranks up. Mary Beard follows Apolinarius's story to reveal the messy realities of Roman administration.
Producer: Alasdair Cross
Expert Contributors: Colin Adams, Liverpool University and Margaret Mountford
Cast: Apolinarius played by Josh Bryant-Jones
Special thanks to Jill Unkell and the Chester Beatty collection, Dublin