Focus

This hour on Focus, we’ll talk about the media coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombing with Bob Garfield of On the Media and Professor Brant Houston of the University of Illinois College of Media.

Do you bike to work? Why? If you don’t, what’s stopping you? This hour on Focus, we talk about cycling, infrastructure and why some in the area are working to empower a strong cycling and pedestrian community.

This hour on Focus, we talk with two health and wellness icons. For the first half of this episode of Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with New York Times Personal Health columnist Jane Brody. Then, in the second half, he talks with Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to register for a bib number in the Boston Marathon. She’s this weekend’s guest legend runner for the Illinois Marathon.

Is the new Honey Bunches of Oats with Greek Yogurt really a healthier cereal because the words “greek yogurt” are on the box? This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with David Grotto, a registered dietician and nutritionist, about the best things you can eat. We welcome your nutrition questions this hour!

Do you enjoy the Marketplace Morning Report? Is there something you want to ask host Jeremy Hobson? This hour we talk with this WILL alum about his career and his next move to host the program “Here and Now.”

How do you define human decency? Can you comfort the miserable; is that even possible? This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with New York Times Best-Selling author Jean Thompson about her new book “The Humanity Project.”

As a parent, how do you talk to your kids about the birds and the bees? That very conversation inspired Julia Sweeney’s new book “If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother.” She joins us live today on Focus!

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. 

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.

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.