Dr. Neal Kassell is the founder and chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and former Co-Chair of Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia. He’s the driving force behind focused ultrasound. For the most up-to-date information about focused ultrasound, here’s a link to “The State of the Field 2025” report.

I talked with Neal at some length two weeks ago. The science is remarkable. The technology is developed (and developing). One story he tells about a woman with essential tremor is astonishing.

Listen here. You’ll be amazed.

In this inaugural episode of the News Items Podcast -- The Future Coming at You --  I interviewed Jane Metcalfe about (1) “capturing” the digital revolution in the 1990s (with Wired magazine, which she co-founded), (2) covering the neobiological revolution with proto.life, (3) helping organize a global consortium to draw the map of the human immune system, and (4) helping advance “focused ultrasound” to treat a number of diseases, including cancer. She was a great guest. We think you'll agree.