Encore: Urban Squirrels
We see squirrels every day in cities across Illinois, but squirrels didn’t always live in urban areas in such abundance.
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.
Gardening: Caring for cut flowers and bugs in the cold
This hour on Focus, we’ll talk about caring for cut flowers with horticulture expert Sandy Mason. We welcome your calls and questions!
The Negro in Illinois: The WPA Papers
After sifting through thousands of documents, Brian Dolinar finished a book started over 70 years ago. The work he helped to complete? "The Negro in Illinois: The WPA Papers."
Central Illinois Olympians
This hour on Focus, we’ll hear from five-time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair, who is representing the U.S. as a delegate this winter in Sochi, Russia and other central Illinois Olympic skaters.
Civil Unrest in Ukraine
Thousands of protestors have occupied Ukraine’s Maidan square in Kiev since November when President Viktor Yankovych refused to sign a trade agreement with the European Union. This hour on Focus, we’ll talk about the unrest in the country.
Down the Up Escalator: How the 99 Percent Live
This hour on Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Barbara Garson about her book “Down the Up Escalator,” which follows families, rich and poor, through the Great Recession.
Encore: The House I Live In
Today on Focus, we’ll listen back to host Jim Meadows’ conversation with filmmaker Eugene Jarecki about his documentary “The House I Live In.”
A New Kind of Student Union?
Northwestern football players want to unionize, could they be able to?
Preserving heirlooms and treasures from the past
Do you have an antique or a photo album that has been in your family for generations? How do you preserve those things to ensure they’ll last?
Craft Distillers and the “Whiskey Renaissance”
Between 2008 and 2012, craft distilleries in the US more than doubled. This hour on Focus, we’ll hear from author and whiskey connoisseur Clay Risen and two local distillers.