Planet Money helps you understand the economy. We find the people at the center of the story.

Garbage in New York. That was like a controlled substance.

We show you how money influences everything.

Tell me what you like by telling me how you spend your money.

And we dig until we get answers.

I had a bad feeling you're going to bring that up.

Planet Money finds out. All you have to do is listen.

The Planet Money podcast from NPR. Hey, it's Curious City editor, Alexandra Solomon. And we got some good news at

Curious City recently. We learned that two of our stories were nominated for awards by the National

Association of Black Journalists. Both stories were reported by our former

colleague and very good friend Ariane Nettles, who's now a professor at Northwestern's

Journalism School. So we thought we'd share one of the stories with you. This one originally

aired in April of 2019. Ariane traced her own family's history to answer a question about the role of the

Great Migration in establishing Chicago's connection to the blues. Here's Ariane to explain more.

In the 20th century, millions of Black Americans who lived in southern states packed up their

lives and headed north to cities like Chicago.

They were drawn by the promise of greater freedom and better jobs.

Like a lot of black Chicagoans, my granddaddy Narvail and my grandma B were among those who left Mississippi in the 1940s and headed north.

When they got here, they found success in a particular industry of the time, the Blues.

So when Curious City listener Charlie Davis asked the question, what role did the Great Migration play at establishing the blues industry in Chicago?

I decided to trace the history of my grandparents'

experience with the blues. Because if you understand their story, that'll help you understand

...