Chicago History Podcast
Stories from history of the Greatest City in the World - Chicago. The places, events, and the people behind it all.
Episodes
Back soon with new episodes! Until then, enjoy this bonkers story originally released in December 2021.
On October 20, 1974, one of the biggest vault thefts in U.S. history happened here in Chicago. This is the story of the Great Purolator Armored Express Heist.
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For many coming into the city from the west, the drive on the Eisenhower Expressway under that massive building at Van Buren is truly a sight to behold, but few seem to know much about its history. Today we’re talking about Chicago's Old Main Post Office.
Originally released in September 2021.
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The Chicago White Sox have called three primary sites home since the team’s founding in 1900, and each plot of earth carries layers of history older than the game of baseball.
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Originally released January 15, 2022.
In 1988, two attractive young students attending a prominent suburban Chicago religious school disappeared, setting off a frenzied search that lasted months before the truth about what happened to them was revealed.
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Some of histories biggest rock acts first performed in the Chicago area at music venue in a suburban strip mall in Schaumburg. This is the story of B'Ginnings.
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Items related to th...
Genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith joins me to discuss her connections to Chicago and "The Women Who Built Chicago" bus tour, launched for Women's History Month in partnership with Ancestry, which highlights overlooked women's contributions.
Tickets for the bus tour:
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Jun Fujita was a pioneering Japanese-born photographer who made his way to Chicago to become widely regarded as the first Japanese American photojournalist. Hear more about Fujita's life in Chicago from Graham Harrison Lee, Fujita's great-nephew and author of the book Jun Fujita: Behind the Camera.
Preorder a copy of the second printing of the book from the publisher (and save $10):
An unbearable loss pushes one man past the breaking point, ending in murder. Listener discretion is advised.
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https://www.chicagohistorypod.com
Up your cocktail or...
Here's a FROM THE ARCHIVES episode originally released on Feb 18, 2023.
Many towns in the Chicago area were established to be all-white, keeping out Blacks, Asians, Jews, Native Americans, and others, allowing minorities to work in those towns but not live there. Those individuals also needed to be gone by sundown.
Find all things Ernest Crim III at ernestcrim.com. Signed copies of Mr. Crim's book “The A...
Chicago’s cold weather can be brutal, and it has been for more than 150 years since it started being tracked. Here are ten of Chicago's coldest days.
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Items related to this e...
In the late 1940s and well into the 1950s, Chicago was plagued by fires that had one key thing in common – they took place at often unsafe, threadbare hotels, injuring and even killing those who were already down on their luck. This is the story of Chicago’s Skid Row Flophouse Fires.
Originally released in January 2022.
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On a cold and snowy day in December 1972, United Airlines flight 553 crashed into a neighborhood near Midway Airport, resulting in 45 deaths. The tragedy was soon followed by conspiracies. Was the plane brought down to silence those who might jeopardize powerful people in the government?
Want to help support the show? Buy me a coffee! Buy more than one and get a personalized video thank you.
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Author Rob Miller (one of the founders of Chicago's Bloodshot Records) joins me to discuss his new book, “The Hours Are Long But The Pay Is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music.”
Get Rob's book here:
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p088964
Save 30% with the following code: F25UIP
Get your Brick of Chicago 2026 Calendar!
Purchasing items through the links below helps ...
Please enjoy this FROM THE ARCHIVES + EXTRAS episode from the summer of 2022.
One man was robbed more than 190 times, knocked unconscious at least four times, and had an eardrum burst aboard Chicago’s L, each time with Chicago cops nearby watching, all in the name of public transportation safety.
This is the story of Chicago’s Mass Transit Decoy Squad of the 1970’s.
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The Spyglass Murder of Margaret Gallagher, the killing and dismemberment of Judith Mae Andersen, the execution-style murder of Chicago Alderman Ben Lewis, and the roadside disappearance of Tammy Jo Zywicki are all part of this episode on Chicago's unsolved murders.
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Leave me a voice message - just click on the microph...
Halloween is coming! Enjoy this episode about Chicago's ghoulish past, including tales of forgotten cemeteries, grave robbers, mob graveyards, and more. Expanded and re-recorded from the original, released Oct. 2020..
Pamela Bannos / Hidden Truths:
https://hiddentruths.northwestern.edu/
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Anything purchased throu...
Chicago has had its share of bizarre incidents resulting in death, including the Pain Fireworks Company Explosion of 1914.
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Leave me a voice message - just click on the microphone in the lower right corner here: https://www.chicagohistorypod.com
Want better sleep? Try the most delicious alternative to m...
Here's one originally released in August 2021 that you may not have heard. Enjoy.
He was the son of one of the wealthiest men in Chicago, and on one fateful night he was shot under mysterious circumstances. Was Marshall Field Jr.'s death an accident or something much darker that was covered up by powerful forces?
Want to help support the show? Buy me a coffee!
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...
If you're planning on walking through Lincoln Park anytime soon, you may be curious about all the statues you'll find. With the help of contributor Connie Fairbanks, we discuss the story behind many of the creations you'll see, and tell you about the ones that were once there but are no longer.
You can purchase Chicago's West Loop: Then and Now by Connie Fairbanks from the author at:
https://www.conniefairbanks.co...
In August of 1925, an opulent cinema opened on Broadway just north of Lawrence Avenue. Joining me today to discuss the history of that theater is Robert Loerzel, one of the authors of the recently released book The Uptown: Chicago's Endangered Movie Palace.
https://www.robertloerzel.com/blog/
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Uptown, The: Chi...
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