Under Rocks

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

A feast for your ears! Our favorite food shows | Under Rocks podcast

November 26, 2025 • 48 mins
The Under Rocks team is thankful for all the fine food and drink here in northern Illinois. So pile your plate high as we revisit some of our favorite culinary adventures. Plus aspic! We hope you're hungry.
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Leave the ghost light on: the spirits of DeKalb's Egyptian Theatre | Under Rocks podcast

October 30, 2025 • 27 mins
Who’s haunting your local theater? The Under Rocks team goes in search of theater ghost lights…and finds a whole lot more.
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Sixty years of printmaking, one more show | Under Rocks podcast

August 28, 2025 • 40 mins
A new exhibit at Northern Illinois University’s Art Museum is an ambitious look at the school’s vaunted printmaking program, which is in its 60th year. It also marks the end of a chapter for the museum. In the latest Under Rocks podcast, curator Peter Olson takes us on a tour of the exhibit and clues us into what the future holds for the campus museum.
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A stalwart friend: Revisiting the Rock River Trail ride | Under Rocks

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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The Luthier Next Door | The Under Rocks podcast

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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Hiding history, preserving our past | Under Rocks podcast

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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Inside the snow globe: Putting Edith back in the Farnsworth House | Under Rocks podcast

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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Where the cities meet the cornfields: Who's preserving our stories? | Under Rocks podcast

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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Vexed! The Illinois Enthusiast vs. The Illinois Flag Commission | Under Rocks podcast

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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Here we go again! Groundhog Day in Woodstock | Under Rocks podcast

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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The Napa Valley of Corn | Under Rocks podcast

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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The End of Things II: A walk in the woods at Lorado Taft | Under Rocks podcast

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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There's always a cemetery | Under Rocks podcast

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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A Game of Action and Exercise, or: How I stopped worrying about the Sox and learned to love vintage baseball

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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Reach! It! Out!: Chasing the dragon boat | Under Rocks podcast

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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From parks to Peaches to pickleball: The siren call of the Rockford Adventure Trail | Under Rocks podcast

July 25, 2024 • 44 mins
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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Lustron: It's a good starter home, it's a good finishing home | Under Rocks podcast

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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Strike while the iron's hot: Forging ahead at the blacksmith's shop | Under Rocks podcast

May 16, 2024 • 30 mins
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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Love birds? Put a ring on it | Under Rocks podcast

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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Alebrijes! Out of your dreams and into your library | Under Rocks podcast

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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