A Healthy Conversation

Maine Public-Affairs Radio · Sundays 11am · WGAN AM 560 / FM 98.5

The long conversation Maine deserves: health, policy, and the choices in front of us.

Two physicians, in conversation with the people shaping Maine. Long enough that the guest can develop an idea. Civil enough that disagreement isn't performance. The name is a deliberate pun: healthy topics, and a healthy way of talking about them.

Listeners across Maine, across the country, and across the world.

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Dr. Jeff Barkin and Dr. Lisa Belisle in the WGAN studio

Dr. Jeff Barkin and Dr. Lisa Belisle · WGAN studio

Sundays at 11am Newsradio WGAN AM 560 / FM 98.5
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Combined experience of the two co-hosts

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Why this show

For when the conversation deserves more than a soundbite.

For listeners

A place to think, not just react. You hear two physicians follow a question wherever it goes, through the qualifications, the second thoughts, the parts thirty-second TV cuts off.

For guests

Most media is built to extract a soundbite. We're built so you can develop an idea. Walk it back. Change your mind out loud. Long form means you actually get heard.

For Maine

The state's choices in political races, healthcare access, the future of work, and the next generation of clinicians deserve more than a ninety-second TV interview. We give the conversation room.

Jeff and Lisa with Dr. Sean McCloy in the WGAN studio
Jeff and Lisa with Dr. Sean McCloy · April 26
Jeff and Lisa with Maine Governor Janet Mills in the WGAN studio
Jeff and Lisa with Maine Governor Janet Mills · April 19

About the show

Maine's public-affairs radio program. Long-form. Non-partisan.

A Healthy Conversation is Maine's respected public-affairs radio program, devoted to civil dialogue and thoughtful exploration of the issues that shape our lives. Guests come in with substance and leave with a transcript. We bring clinical training and a long view of Maine to every interview.

The show regularly features candidates for public office, policymakers, physicians, educators, nonprofit leaders, and Maine innovators. Topics range across emerging technology, public and personal health, policy, education, and the environment.

Dr. Lisa Belisle joined Dr. Jeff Barkin as co-host in March 2026, when longtime co-host Steve Woods retired. Steve launched the program with Dr. Barkin and shaped its tone, direction, and on-air voice through its early years. The mission has stayed the same: a space where Maine voices can explore difficult subjects thoughtfully, and where listeners feel informed rather than inflamed.

Full episode archive on WGAN

Recent episodes

What we've been talking about

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Steve Woods and Dr. Jeff Barkin in the WGAN studio during the original A Healthy Conversation
The earlier program

A Healthy Conversation began with Steve Woods and Dr. Jeff Barkin in the WGAN studio. Steve shaped the show's tone and direction through its early years and retired in March 2026, when Dr. Lisa Belisle joined Dr. Barkin as co-host. This site is the continuation of that program.

What we stand for

The conversations Maine deserves.

What we cover

Topics in rotation

If your work touches any of these threads, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch

Suggest a guest. Share a topic. Tell us what we're missing.

This is the front door for everyone: listeners, would-be guests, publicists, colleagues. Send a short note and we'll read it. If it's a fit for the show, we'll be in touch to talk through scheduling.

What helps us most: a specific person or angle, a sentence on why now, and a line on what only this guest can say. We read every note and follow up.

Or email us directly: healthyconversation@wgan.com