Hi, it's Curious City editor Alexandra Solomon. And today on the show, we're revisiting a story from last year about something known as Midwest Nice. You know, that idea that people in the Midwest are somehow nicer than people in other parts of the country.

Midwestern Nice is this understanding that you should be kind to people, regardless of the circumstance,

and that you should suppress any urge to speak ill of anybody.

So are Midwesterners really nicer?

Hmm.

Reporter Andrew

Maryweather has that answer.

That's coming up.

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at WBEZ.org slash donate. Curious city listener Shining Lee lives with 12 housemates and Hyde Park. And when

the dishes pile up in the sink, Shining just bluntly asked people to clean up their mess. But she says that not lives with 12 housemates in Hyde Park. And when the dishes pile up in the sink,

Shining just bluntly asked people to clean up their mess. But she says that not all of her

housemates are so direct, especially those from the Midwest. My housemate wrote this sign and

put it above the sink and it says, hey, did you know that if sponges are left soaking,

they'll develop germs and be stinky? Oh, no. It was like, and there

was maybe, like, a little sponge and it had, like, a smiley face and, like, it was, like,

running around. What Shining is describing reflects a common stereotype about Midwesterners,

...