Under Rocks
What’s so great about the Midwest? WNIJ’s Under Rocks podcast isn’t afraid to dive into that question head-first every month. In fact, our team won’t leave a stone unturned when it comes to hunting down the most interesting people, places, and events in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.What are you excited about? We’re always looking for a shove in the right direction, so send us on our next adventure by messaging us at Rocks@niu.edu.
Episodes
July 31, 2025 • 60 mins
In June of 2018, two brave correspondents set out to make history. WNIJ's Carl Nelson and Dan Libman would be the first to bike the Rock River Trail. Pedaling 320 miles in just five days, they even managed to send dispatches out to listeners every morning. We revisit their journey.
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May 29, 2025 • 33 mins
In a quiet wooded neighborhood on the south side of Rockford, there’s a man making magic in his basement workshop. Tom Asher uses the tools, knowledge, and creative skills he’s gathered over a lifetime as a musician, woodworker, and artist -- to craft violins.
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April 24, 2025 • 23 mins
2000 called and wants its phone book back. And now it's in the hands that last touched it 25 years ago. Join Northern Star reporters past and present as they relive the past and plan for the future through a time capsule in a wall at Northern Illinois University.
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March 27, 2025 • 35 mins
One of the world’s most precious architectural gems rests on the banks of the Fox River in northern Illinois. Maybe you’ve seen the Edith Farnsworth House in Plano: It’s a mid-century glass and steel marvel designed and constructed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Under Rocks team got a chance to visit and learn more about the woman who commissioned her glass get-away in the woods, Edith Farnsworth.
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February 27, 2025 • 44 mins
There's a museum around every corner in Illinois. The Under Rocks team explores three of them near us to see how they are preserving our histories. Got a favorite? Tell us at rocks@niu.edu
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February 10, 2025 • 51 mins
Does Illinois really need a new flag? Or is the old "seal on a bedsheet" good enough? In this Under Rocks Extra, we call on our favorite expert, self-proclaimed state symbologist and Illinois Enthusiast John Kokoris to review the options the state's flag commission is offering. And he is, respectfully, not pleased.
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January 30, 2025 • 34 mins
Thanks to a small town in northern Illinois, Groundhog Day is bigger than one chubby rodent and its shadow dropping a dubious weather forecast. In Woodstock, the groundhog takes a backseat to the real cause for celebration: the 1993 Bill Murray movie that was filmed there. The Under Rocks team visited the famed town square with the head of the annual festival (and Groundhog Day movie extra!) Rick Bellairs.
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December 19, 2024 • 42 mins
Craft distilleries are the new craft breweries: There’s a growing number of these small operations in northern Illinois, offering their own take on the art of whiskey-making. And to wrap up another year of the Under Rocks podcast, our team heads out in search of some holiday spirit at Whiskey Acres in DeKalb.
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November 21, 2024 • 18 mins
We say goodbye to a field campus that meant a lot to northern Illinoisans during its decades of serving students interested in the environment and the arts. And we revisit a deep dive we took into one of the works of art that made the Lorado Taft campus so special.
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October 17, 2024 • 36 mins
There's a big sprawling graveyard in northern Illinois where the people of Belvidere have been laid to rest for nearly 200 years. In the heart of the Belvidere Cemetery is a tiny community space with a big history: Pettit Chapel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Under Rocks team met with Sam Larson there to learn more about the history of the sacred space and the role of a sexton.
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September 19, 2024 • 37 mins
As this year’s season winds down, some unhappy White Sox fans turn to another era for their baseball fix. The Under Rocks team heads to Creston, IL for a vintage baseball match.
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August 15, 2024 • 31 mins
What do you get when you combine dragons, boats, a touch of “oh my!” and 22 dedicated athletes? The coolest sport you’ve never heard of! Dragon boating has roots in ancient China and branches all over the world…including a lake near you. The Under Rocks crew dons life vests and heads to Shabbona Lake for their latest adventure.
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Fun-starved explorers find gold (and prizes!) along the Rockford Adventure Trail. Join us for what could be the most ambitious Under Rocks ever!
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June 20, 2024 • 29 mins
Lustron Houses. They're in your neighborhood. You just have to look for these mid-century metal marvels. You Under Rocks team heads to Mt. Morris to check out a cluster of Lustrons.
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We go at it hammer and tongs during a visit to the Phineas Vaughan Blacksmith Shop at the Glidden Homestead in DeKalb. Will Dan be able to upset the steel in time to open his beer before it gets warm? Or does he have too many irons in the fire?
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April 18, 2024 • 40 mins
In a rural corner of northern Winnebago County, right up near the Wisconsin border, you can find one of the country’s most important bird research centers – and one of the most dedicated teams of volunteers you’ll ever meet. So as spring migration started ramping up, we sent our own dedicated team to investigate the Sand Bluff Bird Observatory and banding station.
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March 21, 2024 • 21 mins
Step into Founders Memorial Library on the campus of Northern Illinois University and you’ll find yourself in a colorful dream world. Between the bookshelves are 22 towering sculptures by five artists from Mexico City. “Alebrijes – Creatures of a Dream World” is free and open to the public through November 8, 2024, and artist visits and other special events will be planned throughout its stay.
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February 15, 2024 • 23 mins
Sure, you have a rock collection. Who doesn't? Meet Jon Barnhart, whose rock collection was started by a Civil War veteran, and every stone has a story. Not to mention his collection of bikes, outhouses, out-buildings, signs, sleighs, vintage cars... Well, you're just going to have to listen.
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January 18, 2024 • 26 mins
It has been five years since The Librarian, a.k.a. Dan Libman, stepped into a wrestling ring in Oregon, IL. No, there won't be a rematch. But he will catch us up on what his fellow wrestlers are doing today.
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December 21, 2023 • 20 mins
Under Rocks wraps up another year of adventures by bundling up and heading into the woods to find the perfect pine. Actually, it’s more of a farm than woods, as these rookies learn what’s so great about a real Christmas tree. Sinnissippi Farm and Forest co-owner Doug Conroy schools them on the real vs. fake debate. The Clauses even weigh in -- and it’s M-A-G-I-C.
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