Julia Sweeney
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!
Focus
Focus, or Focus 580, was WILL Radio's flagship talk program from 1981 until 2014. David Inge was the host from 1981 until his retirement in 2012. Always engaging, the program acted as a resource for citizens to directly question politicians and candidates as well as keep up on the arts, science, health, and even the latest from well-known novelists.
The Focus archive below offers thousands of great interviews and serves as a time capsule and a great resource for researchers and those just curious about how influential people spoke of important topics as they were happening.
Personal Finance - Money Smart Week
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.
Remembering Roger Ebert
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.
The Ordinary Acrobat
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.
Friendship with Cambodia and Accessing Education after the Arab Spring
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.
Blue Waters
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.
Gardening Technology
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.
Bond….James Bond
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.
NPR’s Three Minute Fiction and Spring Reading Recommendations
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.
The House I Live In
Last night, “The House I Live In” aired on WILL-TV. Today on Focus, we’ll talk with the writer, director and producer for the film Eugene Jarecki about the film and the statements it makes about the War on Drugs. After the show, don’t miss a free, online screening of the film with a discussion to follow!