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.
Bioethical Challenges in a Twenty-First Century World
Guest: Mark Siegler, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Chicago.
The forebears of today's doctors could have only dreamed of the modern medical technology commonly in use today. But even as these tools have generated ethical challenges as fast as they simplify physical ones. When do we start and stop treatment? How do we decide whether we are doing more harm than good? Today on Focus, we're joined by Dr. Mark Siegler to discuss ethics in today's medicine.
Revenge of the Microbes: Are Antibiotics in Danger?
Guest: Abigail Salyers, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Illinois.
Have we come to take antibiotics for granted? Microbiologist Abigail Salyers says yes. In fact, she says, many of us willingly participate in their misuse without thinking about the potentially disastrous consequences. Today on Focus we'll tackle the issue of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, what it means for the future of human health, and possible solutions to the problem.
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906
Guest: Simon Winchester.
On April 18, 1906, a magnitude 8.5 earthquake rocked San Francisco and left the city in ruins within a minute. Today on Focus, geologist and author Simon Winchester joins the show to talk about the event's impact on human history and how recent scientific advances have revealed the ancient subterranean processes that fueled it—and almost certainly will cause history to repeat itself.