Welcome to Insight into Health, my radio show on listener-supported KSVY 91.3, where I explore ways to make healthy living realistic, enjoyable, and sustainable. I am your host, Allison McKeany, and these are the show notes for the live radio show that aired on January 19th, 2026.
Once again, my husband, Lyle McKeany, joined me for this episode and will be on air with me for the next several weeks, talking all about talking!
Listen to the episode:
Beyond the What: The Power of Asking Questions
This was our second discussion, all about having good conversations, inspired by the book TALK: The Science of Conversation And The Art of Being Ourselves by Alison Wood Brooks.
The book explores four main themes (cleverly using the acronym TALK): Topics, Asking, Levity, Kindness.
Last week, we dove into Topics: the benefits of preparing conversation topics, being unafraid of topic switching, and more.
This week was all about asking questions as a way to connect, learn, and care.
“The key to good conversation isn’t knowing, but learning. It is about being interested in your partner, not interesting.” (Wood Brooks, pg 77)
“Being asked questions feels good…it makes you feel like the asker wants to know about you…you feel they care about you.” (Wood Brooks, pg 65)
Lyle and I discussed some of our favorite types of questions:
Call backs: Following up on a topic or life event from a previous interaction shows people that you’re paying attention when they speak and that you care about what they have to say — “How was your trip to the mountains?”
Shared interest: Inquiring about a commonality is a way of connecting, seeing, and aligning yourself with someone else — “Hey, did you see that golf tournament last weekend?”
“Tell me more:” While not technically a question, Lyle assured me that my favorite go-to is question-adjacent. I love this phrase as a way to accept an invitation for connection, to express that I care and have time for what someone has to say, and to approach a topic with an open mind.
What are some of your favorite questions to ask?
Let’s Talk: Dave Haffner
We were joined in the studio by Dave Haffner, a swim friend, fellow UCSD alum, and atmospheric scientist, to discuss the ozone1. I appreciate the way Dave explains these complicated but important topics, including what ozone actually is (as opposed to an onion — you’ll have to listen to find out), when and why we discovered ozone depletion, and some good news about the health of the ozone. As I suspected, we barely scratched the surface, and I have A LOT more questions. Dave will be joining us again next week to continue this fascinating conversation!
What’s Feeling Alive?
Lyle here again. This week, we had more time in the last segment of the show. I threw Allison a curveball, and we listened to a song called “Everything is Peaceful Love” from the latest album SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver.
Ever since the early days when Allison and I first met, we realized that we listen to music much differently — she mostly hears the vocal melody and lyrics, whereas I tend to focus on the instrumentation and production nuances. I challenged her to listen beyond the vocals and point out anything else she noticed while the song was playing. It was difficult for her to do, especially since I put her on the spot! It led to an interesting discussion about those often subtle nuances I hear more readily than she does.
Thanks for being here. Please remember to send your questions and topic inquiries to insightintohealth@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
~Allison
More resources from Dave for those of you who would like to take a deep dive:
A very good NASA website with lots of pictures and educational resources.