Next week on Focus, we'll talk with one of the pioneers in the reserach of happiness about how he got the pscyhological science community to take him seriously, how computers could soon change the way we talk about prescription side effects and how environmental groups came together to work with energy companies to write state regualtions for hyrdraulic fracturing.
As the state’s pension crisis continues, we talk with Kevin Waspi, a lecturer of Finance at the University of Illinois College of Business, about planning for retirement and what the best options are if you’re a state employee. Host Jim Meadows also talks with Waspi about financial planners and how to make sense of the differences between a C.F.A, a C.P.A., a C.F.P. and all the other titles financial planners use to identify themselves. They also discuss how to make sense of the couch potato porfolio. Of course this hour on Focus, we also welcome your questions for Kevin whether you are just starting out and looking for advice on investing, thinking about buying a home, or sending your kids to college.
Bats are notorious in popular culture, but they play a vital role in our eco-system. Of the more than 1,000 species that exist worldwide, 13 can be found in Illinois, and six of those species are now being threatened by white nose syndrome, a poorly understood disease that's responsible for mass die offs of hundreds of thousands of bats nationwide. During this episode of Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Ed Heske, a mammalian ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, a part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, about bats, why they’re important and why white nose syndrome is so scary, especially for farmers.
According to a new report from the Milken Institute, Champaign-Urbana and Danville are both on the list of best performing small cities, but what does that really mean? The report shows Danville climbing in ranking while Chambana was slipping. During this hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Vicki Haugen, President and CEO of Vermilion Advantage and Mike Kirchoff, President and CEO of the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation.
We’ll talk about new development projects in the area, trends with unemployment rates and Danville’s retail resurgence. We’ll also talk about the health of the manufacturing industry in East Central Illinois, what’s ahead for the region and how we can keep local economies healthy in spite of state budget woes.
Hugo Chavez, who was the President of Venezuela until he died March 5, started his controversial political career as an outsider. During the first half of this hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Damarys Canache, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Urbana-Champaign who is a Venezuelan native, about Hugo Chavez, his rise to power and what his death means for the country moving forward. Then during the second part of the show, we’ll talk with Theodore Piccone, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, about what Chavez’s death means for Cuba. We’ll also talk with him about Raul Castro’s recent announcement to step down after his current presidential term comes to an end in 2018 and what’s next for the Cuban Communist Party.
She’s been named 100 of the most power in the world by Forbes, has twice been recognized as “Woman of the Year” by Glamour magazine, is the recipient of fifteen honorary degrees and last but not least, is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Jody Williams about her recently published memoir “My Name is Jody Williams.” Williams tells us about her life as an activist, why she’s spent her career advocating for freedom and human rights and what she really means when she talks about peace.
Williams in the inaugural Jane Addams Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Illinois.
Monday, March 11 - My Name is Jody Williams
Have you been an activist? What causes matter to you?
Jody Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her campaign to eradicate landmines. But she wasn’t always an activist. Monday on Focus, we’ll talk with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams about her new memoir, “My Name is Jody Williams.” She’ll tell us about her life as an activist, why she’s spent her career advocating for freedom and human rights and what she really means when she uses the word “peace.”
During this episode of Focus, we talk about the benefits of planting native plants and wildflowers in your yard and garden. Sherrie Snyder, a master naturalist and the President of Illinois Prairie Wild Ones, a non-profit that promotes the use of native plants in landscaping, joins us to talk about how wildflowers don’t have to look wild and how native plants don’t have to look unkempt. We’ll talk about what native plants draw what kinds of native wildlife and find out the best flowers to plant if you want butterflies and birds in your yard.
Jim Meadows talks with Professor of Journalism at the UIUC and filmmaker Jay Rosenstein about his Peabody and Emmy-Award winning documentary “The Lord is Not On Trial Here Today.” The film takes a never-before-seen look at a landmark First Amendment case that has become famous for the phrase “separation of church and state.” We’ll talk with Rosenstein about the case and how he went about researching and producing the film. Ken Paulson, former editor and Senior Vice President of News for USA Today and President and CEO of the First Amendment Center also joins the conversation.
Mali, a former French colony, had long been considered a model for democracy, but that all changed last year in March. Soldiers angry about the government’s handling of a rebellion in the northern desert overthrew the country’s elected government during a coup in Bamako, the country’s capital. Since then, Mali has suffered political unrest, pushing the country to ask for help from the French government early this year. Even though the French have helped Mali’s government regain some control in the northern part of the country, conflict is far from over. According to the United Nations, fighting has displaced more than 430,000 people in the past 13 months in addition to countless reports of rape and human rights violations. This hour on Focus, guest host Chris Berube talks with Associate Professor of History at Columbia University Gregory Mann about what has happened in Mali, what lies ahead and what role the US should play moving forward.
