Focus is a weekly thirty minute radio interview program featuring discussions about holistic (whole systems) approaches to issues affecting the quality of life in Seattle and other communities in the Pacific Northwest. It airs in Seattle on KING-FM 98.1 Sunday nights at Midnight, on The Mix 92.5, Sunday mornings at 6:30 and KIXI-AM 880 Sunday mornings at 5:30AM. In Portland it airs on KFXX-AM 1520 - Sunday mornings at 5:30 and KGON-FM 92.3 Sunday mornings at 5AM. For a list of Focus programs from previous years, click on the year of interest:

2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

CD's are available for a suggested donation of $15.00. Send a check to IPiPP 14 S. Division, Auburn, WA 98001

Subject: Human Rights in Post-War Afghanistan, Part II
Guest: Medea Benjamin
Length: 22:00
Contact: Global Exchange Code Pink Alert or Occupation Watch
Date Aired: 8/24/03
Summary: Medea Benjamin is the Founding Director of the non-profit, international human rights organization known as Global Exchange. She discussed her background and development as an activist, the mission and history of her organization and the foreign policy of the Bush Administration.

8/24/03 - #385 - 30:00

Subject: Human Rights in Post-War Afghanistan
Guest: Medea Benjamin
Length: 22:00
Contact: Global Exchange Code Pink Alert or Occupation Watch
Date Aired: 8/24/03
Summary: Medea Benjamin is the Founding Director of the non-profit, international human rights organization known as Global Exchange. She discussed her background and development as an activist, the mission and history of her organization and the foreign policy of the Bush Administration.

8/17/03 - #384 - 30:00

Subject: A Pacific Northwest Japanese-American Community, Part II
Guests: Stan Flewelling and Mae Iseri Yamada
Length: 22:00
Contact: White River Valley Museum
Date Aired: 8/17/03
Summary: Stan Flewelling, author of: Shirakawa: Stories From a Pacific Northwest Japanese American Community and Mae Iseri Yamada, long-time resident of Washington s White River Valley, continued their discussion of the community of Japanese-Americans that existed in this area from 1886 to World War II and the relocation during that war that ended the community.

8/10/03 - #383 - 30:00

Subject: A Pacific Northwest Japanese-American Community
Guests: Stan Flewelling and Mae Iseri Yamada
Length: 22:00
Contact: White River Valley Museum
Date Aired: 8/10/03
Summary: Stan Flewelling is the author of: Shirakawa: Stories From a Pacific Northwest Japanese American Community. Mae Iseri Yamada is a long-time resident of Washington s White River Valley. They discussed the community of Japanese-Americans that existed in this area from 1886 to World War II.

8/03/03 - #382 - 30:00

Subject: The Inspired Heart: One Artist s Transformation, Part II
Guest: Jerry Wennstrom
Length: 22:00
Contact: Hands of Alchemy
Date Aired: 8/03/03
Summary: Jerry Wennstrom, an artist who destroyed all of his artwork after a successful career in New York and existed completely on grace for the following 15 years, is author of: The Inspired Heart: An Artist s Journey of Transformation. He talked about his book and shared why he feels the inevitable shortcoming of excessive materialism is now revealing itself.

7/27/03 - #381 - 30:00

Subject: The Inspired Heart: One Artist s Transformation
Guest: Jerry Wennstrom
Length: 22:00
Contact: Hands of Alchemy
Date Aired: 7/27/03
Summary: Jerry Wennstrom is an artist who destroyed all of his artwork after a successful career in New York and existed completely on grace for the following 15 years. He tells his story in The Inspired Heart: An Artist s Journey of Transformation. He shared his experience of deciding to destroy his art and how he survived on only what food came to him by grace.

7/20/03 - #380 - 30:00

Subject: The Recycled Art of Marita Dingus, Part II
Guest: Marita Dingus
Length: 22:00
Contact: Seders Gallery or 206.782.0355
Date Aired: 7/20/03
Summary: Marita Dingus is a Guggenheim Fellow who holds a BFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia & an M.A. and M.F.A. from San Jose State University. She continued her discussion of her work including her open process and the influence of visits to Africa and African spirituality including the importance of respect for Ancestors.

7/13/03 - #379 - 30:00

Subject: The Recycled Art of Marita Dingus
Guest: Marita Dingus
Length: 22:00
Contact: Seders Gallery or 206.782.0355
Date Aired: 7/13/03
Summary: Marita Dingus is a Guggenheim Fellow who holds a BFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia & an M.A. and M.F.A. from San Jose State University. She discussed her work which uses scavenged materials such as corks, broken toys, beer can pull tabs and other objects and reflects a strong social conscience as well as a deep respect for indigenous African Art traditions.

7/6/03 - #378 - 30:00

Subject: Community Self-Reliance
Guest: Michael Shuman
Length: 22:00
Contact: Living Local
Date Aired: 7/6/03
Summary: Michael Shuman, the author of: Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age, discussed the way municipalities can regain economic power through community-self-reliance, subsidiarity and retaining the multiplier effect by establishing local currencies.

6/29/03 - #377 - 30:00

Subject: Community Self-Reliance
Guest: Michael Shuman
Length: 22:00
Contact: Living Local
Date Aired: 6/29/03
Summary: Michael Shuman is a specialist in community economics, and the author of: Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age. He discussed the current conventional wisdom regarding community economics being the attempt to attract large corporations and how large corporations destroy local culture.

6/22/03 - #376 - 30:00

Subject: Sustainable Business Education, Part II
Guest: Gifford Pinchot III
Length: 22:00
Contact: Bainbridge Institute & Pinchot.com
Date Aired: 6/22/03
Summary: The Co-founder, Chairman & Dean of Research for the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Gifford Pinchot II, discussed the Institute, its history and mission and its centers of applied learning which are part of the Institute.

6/15/03 - #375 - 30:00

Subject: Sustainable Business Education
Guest: Gifford Pinchot III
Length: 22:00
Contact: Bainbridge Institute & Pinchot.com
Date Aired: 6/15/03
Summary: The Co-founder, Chairman & Dean of Research for the Bainbridge Graduate Institute discussed the Institute, its philosophical underpinnings of entrepreneurialism and creativity and changing American business climate which fostered the reasons it was founded.

6/08/03 - #374 - 30:00

Subject: A Status Report on American Wilderness, Part II
Guest: Gary Ferguson
Length: 22:00
Contact: Gary's Wild Words Website
Date Aired: 6/8/03
Summary: Gary Ferguson continued his discussion of his summer spent in the Hawk s Rest cabin in the southeast corner of Yellowstone National Park to evaluate the status of the wilderness. He talked about wildlife, hunting guides and other stories from Hawk s Rest: A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone.

6/1/03 - #373 - 30:00

Subject: A Status Report on American Wilderness
Guest: Gary Ferguson
Length: 22:00
Contact: Gary's Wild Words Website
Date Aired: 6/1/03
Summary: Former Forest Service Ranger and author Gary Ferguson discussed his experience hiking 140 miles out his front door in Red Lodge, Montana, to the Hawk s Rest cabin in the southeast corner of Yellowstone National Park to spend a season evaluating the status of the wilderness in the largest in-tact ecosystem in the temperate world.

5/25/03 - #372 - 30:00

Subject: American History w/ Ken Davis, Part II
Guest: Kenneth Davis
Length: 22:00
Contact: Don't Know Much website
Date Aired: 5/25/03 Summary: The best-selling author, historian and lecturer Kenneth Davis continued his discussion of some lesser-known events in American history including the rebellion of Nat Turner and the Cointelpro Program.

5/18/03 - #371 - 29:20

Subject: American History w/ Ken Davis
Guest: Kenneth Davis
Length: 22:00
Contact: Don't Know Much website
Date Aired: 5/18/03 Summary: The best-selling author, historian and lecturer Kenneth Davis discussed the updated version of his book: Don t Know Much About History and some lesser-known events in American history including facts regarding Christopher Columbus and also the Trail of Tears.

5/11/03 - #370 - 29:00

Subject: Cultural Diversity through Travel & Poetry, Part II
Guest: Gary Mex Glazner
Length: 22:00
Contact: Poetry Slam Inc.
Date Aired: 5/11/03
Summary: Gary Mex Glazner is a professional poet who traveled over 34,000 miles and in his book: Ears on Fire: Snapshot Essays in a World of Poets he chronicled his travels, some of which, including the difficulty of translating Nepalese poetry he discussed.

5/04/03 - #369 - 29:00

Subject: Cultural Diversity through Travel & Poetry
Guest: Gary Mex Glazner
Length: 22:00
Contact: Poetry Slam Inc.
Date Aired: 5/04/03
Summary: Gary Mex Glazner is a self-described former flower wrangler who sold his shop to become a professional poet. He and his wife traveled over 34,000 miles and in his book: Ears on Fire: Snapshot Essays in a World of Poets he chronicled his travels, some of which (including eating fried grasshoppers in China) are discussed here.

4/27/03 - #345A - 29:00

Subject: How Corporations got Human Rights, Part II
Guest: Thom Hartmann
Length: 22:00
Contact: Unequal Protection
Date Aired: 4/27/03
Summary: Thom Hartmann, author of: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance & the Theft of Human Rights, discussed how an 1886 Supreme Court decision was twisted to give corporations human rights, its ramifications and solutions to the problem of corporations operating with rights designed for human beings.

4/20/03 - #344A - 29:00

Subject: How Corporations got Human Rights
Guest: Thom Hartmann
Length: 22:00
Contact: Unequal Protection
Date Aired: 4/20/03
Summary: Thom Hartmann is an international relief worker, and author of over a dozen books, including: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance & the Theft of Human Rights. He discussed the East India Company, the Boston Tea Party & the 1886 Supreme Court decision, Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific that was twisted to give corporations human rights.

4/13/03 - #368 - 29:00

Subject: Expanding Field Theory in Science, Part II
Guest: Rupert Sheldrake
Length: 22:00
Contact: Sheldrake On-Line
Date Aired: 4/13/03
Summary: Rupert Sheldrake, renowned biologist and author of The Sense of Being Stared at: & other aspects of the Extended Mind, continued his discussion of his Morphic Field Theory, how he applies it to concepts like the evil eye, and other experiences of what he calls the 7th sense.

4/06/03 - #367 - 29:00

Subject: Expanding Field Theory in Science
Guest: Rupert Sheldrake
Length: 22:00
Contact: Sheldrake On-Line
Date Aired: 4/06/03
Summary: Rupert Sheldrake is a renowned biologist who received a Ph.D. at Cambridge. The author of The Sense of Being Stared at: & other aspects of the Extended Mind, he discussed Michael Faraday s Field Theory and how he applies it to commonly experienced phenomena such as knowing when someone is going to call before they do so and other experiences.

3/30/03 - #366 - 29:40

Subject: Artist Housing & More Livable Neighborhoods, Part II
Guests: Catherine Vandenbrink & Greg Handberg
Length: 22:00
Contact: Art Space Projects
Date Aired: 3/30/03
Summary: Catherine Vandenbrink and Greg Handberg represent Art Space Projects, Inc, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and maintaining artist housing projects. They continued their discussion of their artists housing developments and the recognition of the role the arts in tourism and the effort to make communities more livable.

3/23/03 - #365 - 28:40

Subject: Artist Housing & More Livable Neighborhoods
Guests: Catherine Vandenbrink & Greg Handberg
Length: 22:00
Contact: Art Space Projects
Date Aired: 3/23/03
Summary: Catherine Vandenbrink and Greg Handberg represent Art Space Projects, Inc, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and maintaining artist housing projects. They discussed the history of the organization, the process by which one of their projects happens and the transformative effect artists have on a neighborhood s livability.

3/16/03 - #364 - 29:05

Subject: America s Epidemic of Overworking, Part II
Guest: John de Graaf
Length: 22:00
Contact: Take Back Your Time Day
Date Aired: 3/16/03
Summary: John de Graaf is a documentary filmmaker for PBS. He discussed what he calls the epidemic of overworking in America, some examples of that (including the elimination of grade school recess) as well as his effort behind Take Back Your Time Day, to happen on October 24, 2003.

3/9/03 - #363 - 29:05

Subject: America s Epidemic of Overworking
Guest: John de Graaf
Length: 22:00
Contact: Take Back Your Time Day
Date Aired: 3/09/03
Summary: John de Graaf is a documentary filmmaker for PBS. He discussed what he calls the epidemic of overworking in America, how Western Europeans get more leisure time and vacations, as well as his effort behind Take Back Your Time Day, to happen on October 24, 2003.

3/2/03 - #362 - 29:55

Subject: Fixing Elections and America s Winner-Take-All System, Part II
Guest: Steven Hill
Length: 22:00
Contact: Fair Vote Fixing Elections or 301-270-4616
Date Aired: 3/2/03
Steven Hill, the Co-Founder of the Center for Voting & Democracy, is the author of Fixing Elections: The Failure of America s Winner Take All Politics. He discussed his organization, America s electoral system, and problems he sees with the way America conducts elections, including the inordinate amount of power given to low population states.

2/23/03 - #361 - 29:45

Subject: Fixing Elections and America s Winner-Take-All System
Guest: Steven Hill
Length: 22:00
Contact: Fair Vote Fixing Elections or 301-270-4616
Date Aired: 2/23/03
Summary: Steven Hill, the Co-Founder of the Center for Voting & Democracy, is the author of Fixing Elections: The Failure of America s Winner Take All Politics. He discussed America s electoral system, how millions of votes are not worth anything due to redistricting that creates elections safe for one party s candidate and other notions about the problems he sees with the way America conducts elections.

2/16/03 - #360 - 29:00

Subject: The Graphic Novel Art Form, Part II
Guest: Eric Drooker
Length: 22:00
Contact: Eric Drooker
Date Aired: 2/16/03
Summary: Artist Eric Drooker, originally from New York's Lower East side and creator of Blood Song: A Silent Ballad, continued his discussion of the art form of the graphic novel, his latest contribution to the genre and the politics that inspired themes covered in the book.

2/9/03 - #359 - 29:00

Subject: The Graphic Novel Art Form
Guest: Eric Drooker
Length: 22:00
Contact: Eric Drooker
Date Aired: 2/9/03
Summary: Eric Drooker is an artist, originally from New York's Lower East side and creator of Blood Song: A Silent Ballad. He discussed the art form of the graphic novel, his exposure to early practitioners of the form, such as Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward and how growing up on the Lower East side with neighbors like Allen Ginsberg shaped his politics.

2/2/03 - #358 - 29:00

Subject: 10 K Flowers: Networking Bioregionalists for Social Change
Guest: Rick Ingrasci, M.D., M.P.H.
Length: 22:00
Contact: Whidbey Institute or 10,000 Flowers project
Date Aired: 2/2/03
Summary: Dr. Rick Ingrasci, M.P.H. is a social process expert who serves as Director of Community Learning for the Whidbey Institute. He discussed his background, the notion of bioregionalism (or living in sync with the local culture, ecology and economy and the 10,000 Flowers project, which seeks to network people in the region who share a bioregional focus.

1/26/03 - #357 - 29:00

Subject: 10 K Flowers: Networking Bioregionalists for Social Change II
Guest: Rick Ingrasci, M.D., M.P.H.
Length: 22:00
Contact: Whidbey Institute or 10,000 Flowers project
Date Aired: 1/26/03
Summary: Dr. Rick Ingrasci, M.P.H. is Director of Community Learning for the Whidbey Institute. He discussed the institute, the emerging notion of what leadership is in this century and the 10,000 Flowers project, which seeks to network people in the region who share a bioregional focus.

1/19/03 - #356 - 29:00

Subject: More on Hazel Wolf: Fighting The Establishment
Guest: Susan Starbuck
Length: 22:00
Contact: U W Press
Date Aired: 1/19/03
Summary: Susan Starbuck teaches at Antioch University in Seattle and is author of Hazel Wolf: Fighting the Establishment. She continued her discussion of Hazel Wolf, the Northwest s premier 20th Century activist/environmentalist and Hazel s experience as an organizer from the Depression-era all the way up to the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua.

1/12/03 - #355 - 29:00

Subject: Hazel Wolf: Fighting The Establishment
Guest: Susan Starbuck
Length: 22:00
Contact: U W Press
Date Aired: 1/12/03
Summary: Susan Starbuck teaches at Antioch University in Seattle and is author of Hazel Wolf: Fighting the Establishment. She discussed the oral history series at the University of Washington that was the genesis of her new book, the poverty-stricken childhood of the Northwest s premier 20th Century activist/environmentalist and Hazel s feeling that America is destined to be a Social Democracy.

1/05/03 - #354 - 29:00

Subject: U.S. Middle East Policy & The Roots of Terrorism
Guest: Stephen Zunes, Ph.D.
Length: 22:00
Contact: Foreign Policy in Focus
Date Aired: 1/05/03
Dr. Stephen Zunes is an Associate Professor of Politics and Chair of the Peace & Justice studies program at the University of San Francisco. Author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, he discussed the history of U.S. policy and the downside of the effort to create U.S. hegemony in the region.