Focus (WILL)

There’s been a steady flow of industry and people out of some downstate Illinois factory towns for years.

An examination of common stereotypes of mental illness and the difficulty we often have discussing mental health issues.

During this Focus interview, Jeff Bossert talks with Steve James and Chaz Ebert about capturing the life of a critic on film.

In many places in Illinois, providers are looking to telemedicine to expand access to psychiatric care. Friday on Focus, we take a look at the nuances of treating patients via a computer screen as a part of our series “Unmet Needs: Living with mental illness in central Illinois.”

Going to college on the G.I. Bill Today

If you’ve been following the crisis in Ukraine and the fight for Crimea, do you have unanswered questions about why Russia is so invested? We do, and we wanted to get a better understanding of the historical context of the conflict. Kathryn Stoner, a political scientist who is a Senior Fellow at the Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford, has prepared a reading list that she says go a long way in explaining the Russian perspective. Continue reading to find her reading list...

The science behind medical marijuana is hazy, in part because it's difficult for scientists to gain access to the drug for research.

Director of Outreach for Get Covered Illinois Brian Gorman says young people are signing up for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act's health care marketplace in the final days for enrollment, something that Illinois officials has been concerned about. He talked with Scott Cameron during this Focus interview about how many people have signed up so far. He says its important that the "extension" for enrollment announced yesterday by the Obama administration doesn't give people...

Supriya Hobbs and Janna Eaves are painfully aware that they are surrounded by mostly male students in their engineering classes at the University of Illinois. That’s part of the reason they’re behind the new start-up Miss Possible Inc., a toy company with intentions to manufacture dolls for girls fashioned after historical figures like Marie Curie and Amelia Earhart.

Are you anxious to get outside and into the garden? We welcome your calls and questions today on Focus!

Over the last few weeks, WILL's Sean Powers and Jeff Bossert have spoken with all the candidates running for Rodney Davis' seat in Congress representing the 13th District in Illinois. Today on Focus, we'll hear those interviews.

When Ryan Bartelmay published his debut novel, he based it in central Illinois. This hour on Focus, he talks with host Jim Meadows.

Non-fiction often gets a bad rap. They’re the books you have you read, the ones you were assigned for class or work. Non-fiction titles don’t commonly have a reputation for being the sort of reading you can get lost in. According to Mary Wilkes Towner and Carol Inskeep of the Urbana Free Library, the idea that non-fiction is non-readable is a myth.

Have you tried Sriracha hot sauce?

Do you grow vegetables in a garden or in pots around your home or apartment? If you do -why did you start? If you don’t, why not? This hour on Focus, Lisa Bralts talks with Jeanne Nolan, author of “From the Ground Up” about why she does and how she learned.

The team has no grandmaster, no local coach, little funding to speak of and no formal recruitment. Yet the U of I team has made it to the Final Four of competitive chess in the U.S. for the second consecutive year.

When severe weather happens, most of us take shelter. There are a few who don’t.

This hour on Focus, Scott Cameron talks with democratic candidates for the 103rd House District seat in the Illinois legislature ahead of the March 18 primary. Do you have questions for Carol Ammons or Sam Rosenberg?