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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!).

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.

We learn about Rockford's Test Site on this latest edition of Under Rocks.

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.

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.

The Under Rocks team goes on a treasure hunt with a real life detectorist.

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.

Curling fever doesn't have to end on the Olympic medal podium! Join your local curling league and the next four years will fly faster than a granite stone across a sheet of ice. We revisit our 2022 curling adventure at the Waltham Curling Club in Triumph, Ill. Plus, our resident curling superfan recaps the 2026 Olympic highlights — and explains the shocking controversy. Good curling!

It’s been just over a year since Northern Illinois University closed its outdoor education campus high above the Rock River in Oregon, Illinois. While its future is still in limbo, a group called Together for Taft is making progress in its effort to bring it back as an environmental education center. WNIJ’s Under Rocks podcast team stopped by the group’s fundraiser recently, which was held across the river from the shuttered campus.

The Under Rocks team is thankful for all the fine food and drink here in northern Illinois. So pile your plate high as we revisit some of our favorite culinary adventures. Plus aspic! We hope you're hungry.

Who’s haunting your local theater? The Under Rocks team goes in search of theater ghost lights…and finds a whole lot more.

A new exhibit at Northern Illinois University’s Art Museum is an ambitious look at the school’s vaunted printmaking program, which is in its 60th year. It also marks the end of a chapter for the museum. In the latest Under Rocks podcast, curator Peter Olson takes us on a tour of the exhibit and clues us into what the future holds for the campus museum.

In June of 2018, two brave correspondents set out to make history. WNIJ's Carl Nelson and Dan Libman would be the first to bike the Rock River Trail. Pedaling 320 miles in just five days, they even managed to send dispatches out to listeners every morning. We revisit their journey.

In a quiet wooded neighborhood on the south side of Rockford, there’s a man making magic in his basement workshop. Tom Asher uses the tools, knowledge, and creative skills he’s gathered over a lifetime as a musician, woodworker, and artist -- to craft violins.

2000 called and wants its phone book back. And now it's in the hands that last touched it 25 years ago. Join Northern Star reporters past and present as they relive the past and plan for the future through a time capsule in a wall at Northern Illinois University.