How Curious

How Curious

Exploring Oklahoma legends, tall tales, oddities, and conundrums. Heard something you're curious about? Submit questions and suggestions for future episodes to curious@kgou.org.

Episodes

How come the parking meter was invented in Oklahoma?

April 29, 2025 • 15 mins
In this month’s How Curious, host Rachel Hopkin looks into how, when, and why the parking meter was invented here in Oklahoma City back in the 1930s. In the course of her investigation she learns about the polymath behind it, inventive reactions to its installation such as tying a horse to the meter post and paying for the metered spot for a game of bridge, and some beautiful women in golden bikinis.
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Why is Oklahoma such a challenging place to live for seasonal allergy sufferers?

March 25, 2025 • 14 mins
Every year, the Asthma and Allergies Foundation of America puts out an Allergy Capital report which ranks the top 100 large US cities if you suffer from pollen-based seasonal allergies. Oklahoma City and Tulsa regularly make the top ten. In this episode, Rachel Hopkin looks into what makes the Sooner State so challenging for the seasonal allergy afflicted.
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What Oklahoma City institution has over 1500 strings attached?

February 25, 2025 • 14 mins
Nestled in the heart of Bricktown is a remarkable tribute to some of the most innovative and influential figures -- and instruments -- in music history. Join How Curious host and producer Rachel Hopkin in her exploration of the world-class American Banjo Museum.
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How did two African American property developers become groundbreaking in Oklahoma City and far beyond?

January 28, 2025 • 15 mins
This month's How Curious explores how the work of two African American property developers and entrepreneurs proved ground-breaking both within Oklahoma City and beyond on both a literal and metaphorical level.
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What unique geological bloom flowers only in Oklahoma?

December 31, 2024 • 13 mins
A few months after How Curious host/producer Rachel Hopkin moved to Oklahoma, she was given a barite rose rock by two of her dear neighbors. It came in a box with a short text attached which stated that to hold it was “literally like holding a quarter billion years of history in the palm of your hand.” That gift provided the impetus for this episode, in which Rachel finds out more about this geological bloom and why it's unique to ...
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Was the shopping cart invented in Oklahoma?

November 26, 2024 • 13 mins
It's almost impossible to imagine life without the shopping cart today. However, it was invented less than a hundred years ago. Rachel Hopkin explores how it came about, its pervasive impact, and the role that the Oklahoma inventor/entrepreneur/philanthropist Sylvan Goldman played in its success.
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What Oklahoma City institution began as a collection of roadkill?

October 30, 2024 • 14 mins
How Curious host/producer Rachel Hopkin the world's largest institution that’s solely dedicated to revealing and exploring the form and function of the skeletal system and which is based right here in OKC.
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How did Oklahoma become the location of a real-life Lord of the Flies?

September 24, 2024 • 17 mins
Seventy years ago, a landmark psychological study that has been described as a real life Lord of the Flies took place in an Oklahoma state park. But although the Robbers Cave Experiment, like the novel, focused on a bunch of schoolboys, it offered a very different perspective on human nature.
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Which Oklahoman Got a Hippopotamus for Christmas?

November 7, 2023 • 13 mins
Which Oklahoman Got a Hippopotamus for Christmas? Today’s story features a local girl with a belter of a voice, several hippopotamuses, some zoo history, and a hit song.
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Which Oklahoma community was 'America's Model City' in 1951 and how did the Shetland pony help it grow?

October 17, 2023 • 14 mins
Which of Oklahoma's cities was designated "America's Model City" in 1951? And how did the diminutive Shetland pony help that city to grow?
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Who are the Germans from Russia in Oklahoma?

October 10, 2023 • 14 mins
Many settlers in Oklahoma are of German descent but had ancestors who lived as Germans in Russia for a century or more. Who are these “other Germans?”
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How did Oklahoma help create the Chicken Dance craze?

October 3, 2023 • 12 mins
Did you know that the Tulsa Oktoberfest played an important role in fueling the craze for the Chicken Dance? Find out how in this episode of How Curious.
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Is there an Oklahoma Octopus?

September 26, 2023 • 14 mins
Does a massive man-hunting octopus inhabit Oklahoma’s lakes? Rachel Hopkin looks into one of the Sooner State’s unique legendary monsters, the Oklahoma Octopus.
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How did a young Oklahoman become known as "The Richest Black Girl in America"*?

June 27, 2023 • 14 mins
In 1913 a young Oklahoma came to be known as “The Richest Black Girl in America” after oil was found on her land. How Curious explores Sarah Rector’s extraordinary life.
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How did rural Norman, Oklahoma, become a Chicago mobster's second home?

June 20, 2023 • 13 mins
For decades, stories have circulated about a violent Chicago gangster living in rural Norman, Okla. In this How Curious episode, Rachel Hopkin, digs for the truth behind the rumors.
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How did Oklahoma save the Texas Longhorn?

June 13, 2023 • 12 mins
The Texas Longhorn is typically associated with, er, Texas. But KGOU heard a rumor that when the breed was on the verge of extinction a century ago, it was a group of Oklahomans that saved the bovine.
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How did Oklahoma give birth to seismic reflection?

June 6, 2023 • 13 mins
How Curious explores a momentous scientific breakthrough which took place in Oklahoma in the early 1920s and which continues to have worldwide consequences today
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How did an Oklahoma impresario take country music to the former USSR?

May 29, 2023 • 14 mins
This episode features an Oklahoma-based musical mega-impresario, some of country music’s biggest stars, and a tour of the former USSR.
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What fascinating avian museum is based in Oklahoma City?

May 23, 2023 • 12 mins
Exploring the fascinating history and lore of pigeons, plus the incredible variety of breeds
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How come Oklahoma has so many lesbian bars?

February 28, 2023 • 12 mins
While there used to be several hundred lesbian bars across the US just a few decades back, only 24 remain. New York and Oklahoma tie for the lead with three lesbian bars each, but those two states are very different places, so why do they have this in common?
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