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This interactive experience traces the effects of World War II incarceration on three Japanese American families — from the West Coast to Chicago.
This interactive experience follows the movement for Japanese American redress and reparations in Chicago in the 1970s and ’80s, and the lessons it holds for communities seeking justice and healing today.
This web and audio story chronicles Japanese American resettlement to Chicago from the World War II incarceration camps, and how a government assimilation program discouraged the formation of a long-term ethnic enclave in the city.
This story follows Chicago historian Sherry Williams’ efforts to preserve the memory of Nancy Green as Quaker Oats retires the Aunt Jemima name from its products.
This photo essay captures the final night of a popular summer market in Uptown on Chicago’s North Side, and includes reflections from attendees on the changing neighborhood.
This video on Chicago’s last Black-owned roller rink features skaters recounting the origins of “J.B. style” skating and reflecting on what the long-time South Side staple means to them.
This five-part video series, which received more than a million organic views, tracks down the Chicago band members, musicians, and dancers who helped create five iconic dance moves.
This photo essay includes reflections from Japanese American demonstrators on why they decided to protest outside of the jail, and how they’re connecting current events to their own history of mass incarceration.
This piece uses archival images, maps, and news clippings to detail the long-brewing racial tensions in Chicago that led to the 1919 race riots — an event that contributed to a century of segregation in the city.
In this short documentary, Ilse Cruz, an undocumented Chicago teen, navigates her senior year of high school while seeking an alternative pathway to permanent residency.
This digital memorial was created using responses to a callout asking readers to nominate historic Chicago women deserving of a statue.
This video profiles Phoenix Bean owner Jenny Yang and how she’s expanded her tofu business to sell her products everywhere from school cafeterias to Whole Foods.
This video profiles Oriana Kruszewski, who’s worked for the past 30 years to cultivate a variety of Asian pears that thrives in Illinois.
This explainer video investigates the origins of the common stereotype of Midwesterners as polite, friendly, and passive-aggressive.
This video follows Chicago Japanese Americans as they organize an Asian American contingent of the Families Belong Together rally protesting migrant family separation and detention.
This video profiles Andrzej and Bartosz Dajnowski, who have restored most of Chicago’s public art and also revolutionized the field of art conservation worldwide.
This explainer video deconstructs the design of the Hancock Center in Chicago, and how it changed the way architects and engineers around the the world thought about the structure of the modern skyscraper.
This video follows Northwest Indiana resident Beth Braun as she conducts a citizen science experiment to find out whether lead emissions from the nearby steel mill are landing in her backyard.
In this interactive experience, put yourself in the shoes of a homeless person in Chicago navigating the challenges of daily life during the winter months.
This photo essay captures thousands of demonstrators converging in Chicago’s downtown Loop to protest the death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020.
This digital zine explores the mysteries of Chicago's rodents through a “rat safari,” interviews with experts and crowdsourced stories from Chicagoans about their wildest rat encounters. Print copies of the zine were distributed to Chicago Public Libraries.
This web and audio story pieces together three savory origin stories of everyday food and drinks with ties to the 1893 World’s Fair.
This interactive experience traces poet and writer Carl Sandburg’s life in the Chicago area and highlights the people and places that helped shape his writing and launch his literary career.
This explainer video tracks down the roots of a racist Chicago political phrase and considers whether it’s time to retire it.
This interactive experience features letters from Chicago transplants about what they love most about the city, from fireflies to marathons.
This explainer video investigates the politics and personalities behind why Chicago continued to install lead pipes long after many cities banned them.
This video on Chicago’s urban coyotes follows researchers as they track down and tag coyote pups.
This video on Mexican bakeries in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood answers a reader’s question about how the bakeries stay in business with so much surrounding competition.
This interactive documentary follows Fair Trade bananas from the fields to the supermarkets, and interviews the people behind a movement to change the banana industry.
This series of virtual town hall events asked city, state and federal representatives to address the top issues for three Chicago communities: Little Village, Rogers Park, and Berwyn & Cicero. The events were an outgrowth of a Citizens’ Agenda initiative that surveyed Chicagoans from the ZIP codes hardest hit by COVID to help shape WBEZ’s coverage during the 2020 elections.
This virtual Q&A event answered COVID vaccine questions from Latinos living in Chicago ZIP codes hardest hit by COVID. The event was produced in partnership with local organizations including the Mexican Consulate and a neighborhood Facebook page.
Click for event description and event video.
This WBEZ Curious City event, held in Chicago’s Millennium Park, invited the creators and pioneers of three Chicago-invented dances to talk about the origin stories and teach short dance classes. It was inspired by a video series I produced about dances invented in Chicago.
Click for event description and a photo recap.
This interactive walking tour featured community speakers sharing personal stories at key historical sites related to Chicago Japanese American history. The tour concluded at the Nisei Lounge bar with a facilitated conversation with Japanese Americans who grew up in the Lakeview neighborhood.
Click here for the event description.
This World Café-style workshop, inspired by a WBEZ Curious City story, featured a panel discussion and facilitated small group conversations about issues of race, power, and representation in Chicago’s Muslim community. Participants developed specific recommendations for creating more inclusive Muslim institutions.
Click here for event recap and event photo gallery.
This gallery showcase adapted my web documentary, “Beyond the Seal,” into an interactive exhibit featuring infographics, short videos and question prompts. “Beyond the Seal” follows Fair Trade bananas from the fields to the supermarkets, and interviews the people behind a movement to change the banana industry.
View event photos here.