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.

Earth’s Sustainability: Good News and Bad

Guest: Jonathan Andrew Foley.

Today, more people than ever before face real threats from food shortages, water scarcity, and environmental pollution. As the world's population continues to grow, will changes in the global environment mean even more people will find their health and well-being threatened? Today on Focus, we'll talk human health and security with Jonathan Andrew Foley, Professor of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin.

Book cover for Dark Side of the Moon

Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest

Guest: Gerard DeGroot.

The massive moon craze of the 1960s was sold on a promise of a positive influence on the economy, on politics, and on American culture. It certainly made a considerable cultural impact at the time, but since that first step the American space program has been as barren as the satellite it landed on. Today on Focus, professor of modern history Gerard DeGroot joins us to discuss whether it was as big a leap for mankind as Armstrong suggested.

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

Guest: Francis Collins, M.D.

Many people would say it's impossible to be both religious and a scientist, but one world-renowned geneticist thinks otherwise. Today on Focus we'll talk science and faith and how the two complement each other with Francis Collins, M.D., Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute and author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.