Episodi

  • The roots run deep in Illinois' pioneer cemeteries | Under Rocks podcast
    Oct 29 2026
    There’s a good reason people have been dragging shovels, poison, and sharp objects into tiny Illinois cemeteries this month: They’re restoring remnants of some of the state’s original prairies. WNIJ’s Under Rocks team caught up with volunteers from Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves at Temperance Hill Cemetery near Amboy. We also visit with the people who have a vision to take an abandoned pioneer cemetery in DeKalb County to a new level.
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    32 min
  • Carl Sandburg, pawpaw poet? This and other pawpaw oddities & mysteries | Under Rocks podcast
    Sep 24 2026
    Poet Carl Sandburg knew blue collar culture – You know, “hog butcher for the world” and all that. Maybe that’s why he latched onto the lowly pawpaw, the “poor man’s banana,” as the root of a decades-long joke he shared with friends (who got it), the President of the United States (who didn’t get it), and reporters (who knows if they got it, but it made a fun story!).
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    38 min
  • Test Site: The Art of Praxeology | Under Rocks podcast
    Jul 30 2026
    We learn about Rockford's Test Site on this latest edition of Under Rocks.
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    28 min
  • The art of the bale: Strawfest, Mt. Morris | Under Rocks podcast
    Aug 27 2026
    Encore Mt. Morris has a mission: To create a unique rural arts environment in northwest Illinois. And boy, did they nail it with the annual Straw Sculpting competition. We meet up with organizer Jeff Bold and artists Chris and Cecelia Mann.
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    25 min
  • Little bits of magic: Mysterious Toynbee Tiles appear in Rockford | Under Rocks podcast
    Jun 25 2026
    Toynbee idea in movie 2001. Resurrect dead on planet Jupiter. What? And why is this message on a tile in the streets of Rockford, Illinois? The Under Rocks team investigates.
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    42 min
  • Restoring the Geneva Grotto's glory | Under Rocks podcast
    May 28 2026
    Thousands drive past it every day, but only a few lay eyes on it. It's the Geneva Grotto. And nearly a century after it was built by local Catholic priests, the mosaic and stone structure is returning to serve as a connection between the faithful and their God.
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    25 min
  • Dirt-fishing with the Driftless Digger | Under Rocks podcast
    Apr 30 2026
    The Under Rocks team goes on a treasure hunt with a real life detectorist.
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    42 min
  • Mrs. Fisher's by the bag, by the bucket: It's always better to be the chip person | Under Rocks podcast
    Mar 26 2026
    If you grew up anywhere near Rockford, Illinois, in, oh, the last century or so, you probably have eaten at least a handful of Mrs. Fisher's potato chips. This regional delicacy started in Ethel Fisher's kitchen and still maintains that small-batch flavor, even as the company goes through 2.6 million pounds of local potatoes every year. So join Mrs. Fisher's vice president Chris Spiess as he takes the Under Rocks team on a tour of Rockford's salty treasure.
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    42 min