Not that long ago, air pollution from burning coal made the Windy City more like the Smoggy City. Geoffrey Baer tells us how Chicago cleaned up its act, and shares other stories about Chicago history in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

The saddest ballad of all is the ballad of what never was – like the ballad of Thomas Hoyne, who was elected mayor of Chicago, but never served. Belly up to the bar and get a little taste of Chicago’s spirited history.

When most people visit a National Park Service site, they visit the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone. Not many realize that there are more than 400 National Park Service sites. But that’s one thing Mikah Meyer hopes to change as he travels cross-country visiting all 412 of those sites.

Our latest cocktail, inspired by Chicago boss William Dawson, brings north and south together with the sweet peaches of Dawson’s ancestral Georgia and the Irish whiskey of Chicago’s rough politics.

Geoffrey Baer tracks down answers for three questions about Chicago's bygone streetcar heyday in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

Thanks to an extension of Statue Stories Chicago, you still have plenty of time to chat with the Tin Man and Dorothy in Oz Park.

Levi Boone was arguably one of the most disliked mayors in Chicago history for his crackdown on immigrants and alcohol. He inspires a frosty, boozy melting pot of Americana.

Geoffrey Baer shares the story of the remarkable man who gave Sox Park's famous intersection one of its names.

One-term Mayor Michael Bilandic’s downfall in 1979 has become a cautionary tale to future would-be mayors of Chicago: Always make sure the snow gets plowed. His chilly defeat inspired this iced cocktail.

The building that thousands of cars drive under every day will be turned into commercial office space. Looking at the future of a building that's been empty since 1997. 

William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson was arguably the most corrupt politician Chicago has ever seen. He inspires a bourbon-based cocktail topped off with a taste of Chicago.

For years, petroleum coke – the black, powdery byproduct of tar sands oil refineries – plagued the Southeast Chicago area along the Calumet River. Community and environmental activists protested and eventually influenced legislation regulating how the dusty byproduct is stored locally.

It’s never been easy or popular in America to be an egghead. Just ask Adlai Stevenson, who once remarked, “the way of the egghead is hard.” For a drink befitting Stevenson’s balance and brainpower, we create the Old Shoe from equal parts Old Tom gin, vermouth and applejack.

We honor Anton Cermak’s immigrant story with a Chicago-brewed Czech pilsner, Revolution Brewing’s Rev Pils, and spike it with the spirit of a more recent group of Chicago immigrants: tequila.

The largest passenger ship to operate in the Great Lakes stopped at Navy Pier in the 1950s. Geoffrey Baer dives into the history of the S.S. Aquarama and more.

Picasso, Miro, and now the latest acquisition of the Arts Club of Chicago as it marks its centennial year.