Focus
WILL - Focus - April 19, 2013
Do you remember the SNL skit with Pat? Do you remember a time when women were banned from running most major marathons? Find out more about what’s coming up next week on Focus and join our conversation.
Coming up next week on Focus, we’ll talk with former SNL cast member and author Julia Sweeney, local New York Times Bestselling author Jean Thompson and Marketplace Morning Report’s Jeremy Hobson, among many others.
Tuesday, we’re recording an interview with Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to register for a bib number to run the Boston Marathon. Have something you want to ask her? Email us at will-talk@illinois.edu
WILL - Focus - April 19, 2013
Friday on Focus, we talked about personal finance. The 8:00 p.m. rebroadcast of this program is being preempted due to breaking news reagrding the Boston Marathon bombing case.
With more and more Americans falling into debt and feeling stress that comes with failing finances, the Federal Reserve bank in Chicago created the Money Smart Week program in 2002 to promote financial literacy and offer chances for consumers of any income level to learn how to better manage their money. Through collaboration with several banks and non-profit organizations, there are “Money Smart Week” events taking place through the end of next week across the state. This hour on Focus, guest host Kimberlie Kranich talks with Karen Chan, Illinois Chair of the Money Smart Week program. Chan has nearly two decades of experience teaching about personal finance. We’ll talk with her about the courses being offered in and around Champaign and ask her about how to manage your credit, how to get out of debt and how to plan for retirement.
Kevin Waspi, certified financial advisor and lecturer at the University of Illinois College of Business, also joins the show. As he does on the third Friday of every month, he’ll be here to answer your calls and questions whether you’re just starting out and looking for advice on investing, or thinking about buying a home or sending your children to college.
WILL - Focus - April 18, 2013
Roger Ebert’s 15th Annual Film Festival opened last night in Champaign at the historic Virginia Theatre for the first time without Roger. This hour on Focus, we’re remembering him and his mark on film and culture.
Pulitzer Prize winning film critic, screenwriter and journalist Roger Ebert will be remembered as one of the greatest film critics of all time. His mark on the cinema, our culture and our community are undeniable. This hour on Focus, guest host Jeff Bossert talks with Chicgao Tribune film critic Michael Phillips. Phillips filled in for Roger on "At the Movies" when he first became ill and later took over the show. We'll also hear from several members of the Champaign-Urbana community and a long-time Ebertfest volunteer.
Did you know and love Roger? What did he mean to you? To our community? We want to hear from you this hour on Focus.
A new local WILL-TV special, Ebert Remembered, airing at 8 pm Thursday, April 18, will highlight excerpts of WILL-TV interviews with Roger Ebert in which he talks about his childhood in Urbana, his experience at the University of Illinois and his role as a movie critic.
WILL - Focus - April 17, 2013
What images first come to mind when you hear the word “circus.” According to author Duncan Wall, the ring master in a red jacket and riding boots is becoming a thing of the past. This hour on Focus, we talk with Wall about his new book “The Ordinary Acrobat” and learn about the movement to empower circus as an art form.
Duncan Wall fell in love with circus at the age of 23 when he was studying abroad in France, and he’s never looked back. This hour on Focus, guest host Lindsey Moon talks with Wall about what he calls “new circus” and what makes it so magical. He tells us about his first time flying trapeze – and how those teaching him forgot to strap him into the safety harness, what he learned in circus school and about the movement to empower the circus arts in the US. We also talk with him about circus history and why the image of a lion tamer and a ring leader with a red jacket have been so hard to shed - an image he says is challenging as he tries to advance the contemporary circus movement.
Read an excerpt from Duncan's book.
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WILL - Focus - April 16, 2013
This hour on Focus, we talked about sex trafficking and tourism in Cambodia and how one woman originally from Urbana is working to help keep girls with their families and out of brothels in South East Asia. Then, we learned about Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani girl who was shot on her way home from school for advocating that all children should be able to attend school.
Bhavia Wagner had traveled lots of places and had seen lots of eye opening things in third world countries, but when she first arrived in Cambodia, she says words can’t quite describe how what she saw made her feel. For the first half of this episode of Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Wagner about her efforts to empower young girls and women in Cambodia with her non-profit organization “Friendship with Cambodia.” Wagner is originally from Urbana and will be hosting a screening of the documentary “Half the Sky” April 20th at Friends Meetinghouse in Urbana.
Then in the second half of the hour, we’ll talk with Rangita de Silva de Alwis.
Last October, Malala Yousafzai was shot in Pakistan on her way home from school for her beliefs that all children should be able to go to school. Shortly after the incident, the United Nations issued a petition making it a goal that all children have access to education by 2015. During the second half of this hour on Focus, we’ll talk about access to education after the Arab Spring with Rangita de Silva de Alwis. She will be giving a lecture at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign on April 16 entitled “Malala: Access to a Girl’s Education."
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WILL - Focus - April 15, 2013
If a person, multiplying two numbers together once every second, tried to do as many multiplications as the new UIUC’s super computer Blue Waters can do in a second, it would take them about 300 million years. This hour on Focus we talked about the technology and the problems Blue Waters is trying to solve.
Simply explained, Blue Waters is a very big, very fast computer. This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Bill Gropp who is Director of the Parallel Computing Institute and Deputy Director for Research at the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He’ll tell us what makes Blue Waters so powerful, why the technology is worth the investment and what problems researchers hope to solve with one of the world’s largest super computers.
WILL - Focus - April 12, 2013
Do you have fond memories of Roger Ebert? What do you think of when you hear “circus?” Do you have questions about the UIUC’s new super computer Blue Waters? Find out more about what’s coming up next week on Focus and join our conversation.
Coming up next week on Focus, we’re remembering Pulitzer Prize winning film critic, screenwriter and journalist Roger Ebert, talking about super computers and learning about how the circus is very serious business in other parts of the world. Find out more and our conversation!
WILL - Focus - April 12, 2013
What color is your thumb…green or black? This hour on Focus, we talked with Eduardo Torrealba who has been working on a project to help you if you answered “black” and Sandy Mason, UI extension horticulture expert.
Over and underwatering plants is one of the key reasons why those of you who answered “black” are having trouble keeping your plants alive. This hour on Focus, we’ll talk with Eduardo Torrealba. He’s the CEO of Oso Technologies, a new company formed in Urbana. He and his colleagues have developed a new product called Plantlink that’s designed to help novice gardeners help their plants thrive and conserve water. Sandy Mason, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Expert, will also be here to answer questions about your lawn and garden.
Learn more about Plantlink:
WILL - Focus - April 11, 2013
What is it about James Bond? Why did the character spark such a following and why does the character endure? This hour on Focus, we talked about Bond, his cars and his legacy.
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the release of Ian Fleming’s “Casino Royale” that introduced the world to the now infamous mystery man, James Bond. This hour on Focus, we’ll talk with Michael VanBlaricum, a UIUC alumnus and founder of the Ian Fleming Foundation, about Bond’s legacy. John Cork, co-author of the book "James Bond: The Legacy" and a documentary film maker and writer known for his knowledge of the character, also joins us.
WILL - Focus - April 10, 2013
Are you reading a book right now that you can’t put down? This hour, host Jim Meadows talks with NPR’s Guy Raz about NPR’s Three Minute Fiction contest. Then we talk about spring and summer reading recommendations.
Leave a message after the beep… Make it 600 words or less. That’s the prompt NPR’s Three Minute Fiction gave listeners for Round 10 of their popular flash fiction writing contest. This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Guy Raz, former host of Weekend All Things Considered and current host of the TED Radio Hour. Three Minute Fiction is Raz’s brainchild, and during the first half of this show, he tells us how surprised he is by the continued popularity of the contest and what his favorite stories are.
Then during the second half of the hour, we’ll talk with Kelly Strom. She manages adult fiction at the Champaign Public Library and will tell us more about new fiction titles for this spring.
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