Ep 09 — Chicago: Baseball, Hot Dogs, Industry, and Infamy

Today, we armchair travel to the Windy City for a deep-dive into what makes Chicago different from every other city in America. We break the rules a little bit and discuss six books we love that explore Chicago's culture, food, and history of rabble-rousers and heroes.

Chicago is a representation of everything that makes the United States the awesome and challenging country that it is. There's a tradition there of firsts — the skyscraper, the telegraph, the Twinkie — and a commitment to industry with railroads and shipping and meatpacking and teamsters.

There's also a sobering history of race riots and gangsters. Daring muckrakers and corrupt politicians. Life-affirming jazz and blues musicians and baseball. Hot dogs, deep-dish pizza, and Italian beef sandwiches. And a population made up of immigrants from all over Europe that have spawned high-spirited, tough-minded native Chicagoans.

We cover all of this and more in our discussion of books and life in Chicago.

For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes at http://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2020-03-30-chicago

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