Carl Steven Alfred Chinn MBE DL (born 6 September 1956) is an English historian, author and radio presenter whose working life has been devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of Birmingham.

[7] His work in the community made him a popular figure, and in 1994 he was invited by the Birmingham Evening Mail to write a two-page feature on local history.

[7] In 2000 Chinn was a leading figure in the temporarily successful, but eventually doomed, campaign to save the Longbridge car factory from closure.

In the 2001 Birthday Honours, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to the community, especially Local History, in the West Midlands.

[10] In December 2010 he appeared on Ian Hislop's BBC television show Age of the Do-Gooders, in which he championed George Dawson; a "non-conformist preacher, and a bit of a showman".

He stood in the 1983 general election in Birmingham Sparkbrook as an independent, campaigning for import controls to protect local industry, and more investment in council housing.