Radio Maine with Dr. Lisa Belisle

What Your Body Knows That Words Can’t Say

Annie Kloppenberg, professor of performance, theater, and dance at Colby College and director of the Lyons Arts Lab, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to explore how movement, curiosity, and collaboration shape contemporary artistic expression. With roots in New England and a career spanning performance, teaching, and choreography, Kloppenberg reflects on her early influences in dance and the moment that transformed her understanding of what movement could communicate.

Now working at the intersection of dance, visual art, and music, she shares how her creative process embraces ambiguity, non-linear storytelling, and deep collaboration with performers and artists across disciplines. From inspiring new work through visual art to fostering student creativity through the Lyons Arts Lab, Kloppenberg reveals how curiosity continues to guide her work.

This conversation invites listeners to reconsider how we experience art—not just intellectually, but physically and emotionally.

Join our conversation with Annie Kloppenberg today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Inside Surrender: Love, Loss, and Life on a Goat Farm

Jennifer Acker, author, founder and editor-in-chief of The Common and director of the Amherst College LitFest, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to explore how place, storytelling, and personal transformation shape both literature and life. Raised in rural Maine, Acker reflects on how her early experiences—family reading traditions, small-town culture, and global travel—deeply informed her commitment to place-based writing. She shares the origin story of The Common, a literary magazine dedicated to capturing the nuances of place across the world, and discusses her upcoming novel Surrender, inspired in part by her family farm and the emotional complexities of midlife change.

From goats and farming to identity, aging, and unexpected love, Acker offers a thoughtful perspective on how stories help us understand ourselves and others.

Join our conversation with Jennifer Acker today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

From Professional Skateboarding to Cushnoc Brewing: Tobias Parkhurst’s Journey Back to Maine

Tobias Parkhurst, Head of Business Development for Cushnoc Brewing Company and a longtime Maine entrepreneur, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to share an unconventional journey from professional skateboarding to revitalizing community life in central Maine. Growing up in rural Maine, Parkhurst found identity and resilience through skateboarding, eventually traveling widely before returning home to help run his family’s glass business. After years in construction, he shifted toward ventures that reflected his passions—helping launch Cushnoc Brewing Company in Augusta and contributing to other local businesses like State Lunch, Sand Hill Bagel, and Cushnoc Cantina.

In this thoughtful conversation, Parkhurst reflects on lessons learned from skateboarding, entrepreneurship, and travel—especially the importance of persistence, community connection, and bringing new ideas back to Maine. From building breweries and skate parks to fostering spaces where people gather over beer, pizza, and conversation, his work highlights how small businesses can shape the identity of a place.

Join our conversation with Tobias Parkhurst today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

From Peace Corps to Global Health: John Kuehnle’s Journey to Helping Hospitals Worldwide

John Kuehnle, CEO of Partners for World Health, brings a global public health perspective to Maine through his leadership of an organization that transforms surplus medical supplies into lifesaving resources for communities locally and around the world. In this episode of Radio Maine, Kuehnle joins Dr. Lisa Belisle to reflect on a career shaped by service—from four years in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua to more than a decade working with USAID across Africa. Now based in Maine, he leads an effort that collects unused medical supplies from hospitals across New England, redistributing them to healthcare systems in need while reducing environmental waste.

Kuehnle shares how thoughtful partnerships, cultural understanding, and sustainable planning help ensure that donated equipment truly benefits the communities receiving it. He also discusses the organization’s lesser-known work supporting Maine residents with refurbished medical equipment. Along the way, he reflects on art, photography, and the value of global perspective in solving complex challenges.

Join our conversation with John Kuehnle today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Building Confidence Across Cultures | Beryl Cui’s Maine Story

Beryl Cui is a Cross-Cultural Communication Trainer and English Instructor who moved from Beijing to Maine to begin a new chapter. In this episode of Radio Maine, Cui joins Dr. Lisa Belisle to share her journey from corporate language training in China to building connection and community in Portland. For over a decade, she has coached CEOs and business leaders to communicate with clarity, confidence, and cultural awareness—teaching that language is more than grammar; it is trust, mindset, and relationship. Now in Maine, she is blending that expertise with her lifelong practice of Chinese calligraphy, creating personalized artwork that reflects both meaning and identity. Thoughtful and energetic, Cui reflects on courage, small acts of change, and the power of stepping into discomfort—whether giving a speech, moving across the world, or jumping into cold water.

Join our conversation with Beryl Cui today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

How the Maine Irish Heritage Center Is Reimagining Tradition

Dr. Eric Brown is the executive director of the Maine Irish Heritage Center and a scholar whose background spans Renaissance drama, poetry, and even insect studies. In this episode of Radio Maine, Brown joins Dr. Lisa Belisle to explore how Irish heritage, literature, and imagination intersect in Maine today. Raised in Dover-Foxcroft with deep Irish roots, Brown reflects on rediscovering his ancestry during the pandemic and how that journey led him from academia into community leadership. Now stewarding the former St. Dominic’s Church in Portland, he is helping transform the historic “Irish Cathedral” into a vibrant cultural hub—hosting music, education, and cross-cultural events like the upcoming Shalom & Shamrocks dinner. Thoughtful and wide-ranging, this conversation touches on diaspora, creativity, discomfort, and the power of shared space to build understanding across communities.

Join our conversation with Dr. Eric Brown today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Finding Your Voice in Podcasting and Life with Aubrey Calaway

Aubrey Calaway is an audio producer and the director of Foghorn, a Portland-based audio collective and coworking space dedicated to storytelling, listening, and community. In this episode of Radio Maine, Calaway joins host Dr. Lisa Belisle to explore the deep human roots of audio—from oral tradition and NPR influences to the evolving world of podcasts and documentary storytelling. Trained at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, Calaway reflects on finding one’s own voice in audio, both creatively and literally, and on learning what to leave behind in order to pursue work that feels meaningful. Calaway shares how Portland became an unexpected hub for audio producers and how Foghorn grew from an informal coworking experiment into a vibrant creative community. The conversation also looks forward, touching on the power of gathering in physical space and the role of storytelling in shaping empathy, culture, and social change.

Join our conversation with Aubrey Calaway today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel. 

Risk, Reward, and Reinvention: Brian Petrovek’s Maine Story

Brian Petrovek is a longtime community leader and former sports and entertainment executive whose career spans elite athletics, business leadership, and civic engagement. In this episode of Radio Maine, Petrovek joins host Dr. Lisa Belisle to reflect on his journey from high-level hockey at Hotchkiss and Harvard to decades of leadership in professional sports and live entertainment. Known in Maine for bringing elevated sports experiences to the state, Petrovek shares how those years shaped his belief in hospitality, risk-taking, and creating meaningful experiences by choice—not necessity. Now in a new chapter, he is focused on service, arts, education, and strengthening community life in Portland, from board leadership to cultural institutions and mentoring future leaders. This conversation weaves together family, Maine’s youth sports culture, and Petrovek’s guiding philosophy of “first principles”—simplifying challenges to their core. Thoughtful and forward-looking, this episode offers insight into leadership, creativity, and giving back.

Join our conversation with Brian Petrovek today on Radio Maine—and be sure to subscribe to the channel. 

How Slime Became a Movement: Sara Schiller and the Sloomoo Institute

Sara Schiller, co-founder of the Sloomoo Institute and Bowdoin College alumna, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to share how curiosity, resilience, and joy shaped her unlikely path from rural Maine to a national cultural phenomenon. Raised in Winterport, Sara credits her Maine roots—and the confidence she built at Bowdoin—with fostering a lifelong curiosity that led her into art, business, and entrepreneurship. After early work in hospitality and corporate leadership, her passion for art and public experience took shape through Wooster Collective, a groundbreaking street art blog that helped demystify contemporary art for a global audience.

Following profound personal challenges within her family, Sara co-founded the Sloomoo Institute as a joyful, hands-on space where creativity, sensory play, and human connection come together. What began as a short-term experiment has grown into multiple locations nationwide, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Deeply rooted in Maine values of openness and ingenuity, Sara’s story is one of fearlessness, imagination, and purpose. 

Join our conversation with Sara Schiller today on Radio Maine—and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel. 

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery

Practice Over Perfection: Liz Kovarsky on Reimagining Creativity & Wellness

Liz Kovarsky, founder of the Electric Cottage Collective in Brunswick, Maine, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to explore a new model for creativity, wellness, and community connection. A trained social worker, artist, and educator, Liz created Electric Cottage Collective as a shared, embodied space that brings together creative coworking, arts practice, and wellness—challenging the ways modern culture often separates mind from body. Drawing on her background in social work, art education, and movement practices like dance and yoga, Liz shares how her own experiences of burnout and disconnection led her to imagine a more accessible, community-centered approach to healing and creativity. At the heart of her work is the idea of “practice over perfection,” emphasizing process, mutual aid, and collective care rather than productivity or profit. Grounded in Maine’s strong sense of place and community, Electric Cottage Collective offers sliding-scale and inclusive programming that invites people to show up as whole humans. 

Join our conversation with Liz Kovarsky today on Radio Maine, and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery