Born in 1948, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tamim Ansary is a writer, lecturer, editor, and teacher based in San Francisco. He directs the San Francisco Writer’s Workshop, teaches through the Osher Institute, and writes fiction and nonfiction about Afghanistan, Islam-and-the-West, democracy, current events, social issues, and as he says, "my cat, and other topics as they come up."
Jim Eyrich of the University of Illinois and Bobbi Hardy from CITES join us. Jim works for the National Center for Supercomputering Applications and Bobbi is a User Services Specialist at the CITES Help Desk. Whether you’re looking for a new computer or tablet, have questions about online security, or need some troubleshooting advice, they’re happy to help.
Our guest today is home inspector Scott Spies. We invite your questions on everything from windows and siding, to roofing and gutters, to attics and basements, just about anything that goes into the single-family home. If you’re thinking of making some changes or something needs to be repaired, you are welcome to call.
For years, Frederick Hoxie asked students to name three American Indians and almost universally, the names mentioned were the same: Geronimo, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Many Americans see Indians as occupying a position outside the central narrative of American history. It’s almost a given that Native history has no particular relationship to the conventional story of America. Indian history may be seen as short and sad, one that ended a long time ago.
In This Indian Country, Hoxie creates a counter-narrative; Native American history is also a story of political activism, with victories in courts and campaigns rather than on the battlefield. For more than two hundred years, Indian activists have sought to bridge the distance between their cultures and the republican democracy of the United States through legal and political debate. Over time their struggle defined a new language of “Indian rights” and created a vision of American Indian identity, engendering a dialogue with other activist movements.
Among the people discussed in “This Indian Country” is Sarah Winnemucca, who was the first American Indian woman to publish a book in the U-S. Follow the link below to read Winnemucca’s “Life Among the Piutes.”
We’ll discuss ethical dilemmas in the workplace with C.K. Gunsalus, Director of the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics, and Professor Emerita in the College of Business at the U of I, and author of The Young Professional’s Survival Guide: From Cab Fares to Moral Snares. We’ll welcome your examples of ethical quandaries you’ve faced in the professional world – from rampant stealing of office supplies, to questionable business practices – anything you’ve come across, that maybe you’ve been asked to do in the workaday world that has given you pause, and how you handled it.
Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln introduces moviegoers to a different element of the 16th President's character. Behind the myth, he was a political animal. The movie displays Lincoln in his final days, fighting for passage of the 13th Amendment the the U.S. Constitution, which outlawed slavery. It's easy to remember President Lincoln as a larger-than-life figure. But this film reminds us that, while he was a legendary President, he was also a man. And that man started his professional life as an attorney in Central Illinois. We'll discuss Lincoln's time in the region, and the man behind the myth, with Lincoln historian Steve Beckett, Chair of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Advisory Board, and Guy Fraker, author of the book Lincoln's Ladder to the Presidency.
Nearly one out of every five children in Illinois is growing up in poverty, and in more than half of Illinois' counties, 1 out of every 4 kids experiences food insecurity. Nationwide, childhood poverty costs the country $500 billion a year, or 4 percent of GDP. In addition to the economic costs, there are high personal costs: children growing up in poverty face ongoing psychosocial stress that affects their health and development, from high blood pressure and impaired immune functioning to deteriorated connections in the brain. We’ll explore the effects of poverty on children, and what can be done to ameliorate those effects.
Guest: Ed Kieser, Meteorologist, American Electric Power, Columbus, OH; Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Journalism at the University of Illinois
It's been one of the the warmest years on record, but that doesn't mean the Midwestern winter won't bring it's own challenges. On the first Monday of meteorological winter, we'll talk with former WILL meteorologist Ed Kieser about how to prepare for and what to expect from winter weather. We'll also offer you an opportunity to win a prize suitable for stocking stuffing in our Focus Winter Weather Preparedness quiz!
From time to time, we like to provide you with an opportunity to ask some basic questions about personal finance. Kevin Waspi, who lectures on finance at the University of Illinois College of Business will answer your queries on money management. Whether you are just starting out and looking for advice on investing, thinking about buying a home, sending your children to college, or planning for retirement, your questions will be welcome.
This Saturday will mark the 25th World AIDS Day. The first such day was established in 1988 to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
Between 1981 and 2007, more than 25 million people died from AIDS. But more and more people today are living with HIV – research has led to medical regimens that make it more of a chronic disease to be controlled, rather than the almost certain death sentence it once was. Still, globally, an estimated 33 point three million people are H-I-V positive. And AIDS still takes close to two million people each year – more than half of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.
