This Conversation

This show is about the Virginia Special Redistricting Election, scheduled for April 21. The referendum reflects a national battle for "fairness" in the mid-term elections in November. There is one question: should the Va. Constitution be amended temporarily to allow redistricting? YES or NO. Who started it and what's the other side doing about it? And, how will you vote on April 21? Guests are Rep...

When Emory resident Sabrina Durling-Jones took a teaching job for a semester at a university in Dubai, she did not expect that incoming missiles from Iran would be part of her experience. Hearing Patriot missiles take off to intercept the incoming attacks is now routine for Sabrina. In This Conversation, we'll hear about this professor's experience in Dubai as the U.S. - Israeli war on Iran intens...

In fall 2025, the U.S. began bombing boats from Venezuela and other countries, killing 130 people and claiming that they were narco terrorists and a threat to U.S. national security, which justified military action. On Jan. 3, 2026, the United States invaded Venezuela, arrested and imprisoned its president, and now says that the U.S. is now in charge of the oil industry in Venezuela. What is the r...

After a number of campuses in the national Job Corps program were told they were being shut down by the Labor Dept and the results of Elon Musk's DOGE investigation, supporters filed injunctions and court cases have dragged on from summer 2025 until Congress stepped in. Legislators superseded temporary injunctions that were keeping Job Corps programs running and funded the program through June 202...

Tom Chapman is the Project Director for Washington County Virginia's RECOVERY COURT, previously known as DRUG COURT. This program provides an alternative to jail when an addict is facing charges and gets approval to enter the program. In this interview, Chapman explains how the program can save money for taxpayers with the hope of the addict's success in getting clean, making the community stronge...

This week, Teresa Keller and This Conversation present Part II of a new series on Drug Addiction Recovering addict Jessica talks about the first steps toward her drug addiction as a young child in her home in Abingdon, Virginia. In an intense and gripping story, Jessica details her decline into the world of drugs until she hit rock bottom. Now she can talk about her road to recovery. This Conversa...

Meet Bo. He's a recovering drug addict who has seen it all: things you can imagine and things you wouldn't have thought of. He started young...with alcohol. After that addiction kicked in, he found his way to cocaine, meth, jail repeated attempts in rehab, and prison. Finally, his rehab stuck and he has been clean for one year. What are the tools he believes will keep him straight? This interview...

Jerry Hill is organizing events to celebrate Martin Luther King in Abingdon, Virginia. He puts the week's events in the context of his history, from segregation through today's chaos. Mentioned in this episode: WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia. Stay tuned, connected, informed and entertained. This is listener supported radio. www.wehcfm.com

We recorded this interview at the beginning of basketball season 2025. Do you ever notice the referees in big-time basketball games?  Do you ever wonder about their lives...their families...the constant travel... and what it's like to be jeered and taunted by unhappy fans?  Find out in this interview with Division I basketball referee Justin Porterfield. And... by the way... he...

Odeliya Matter grew up within yards of her Palestinian neighbors. She didn't ever meet any of them, but she learned about the Palestinians in school, at home, and in the community. She was told that they were dangerous and they wanted to kill Jews. Then Odelyia met a Palestinian man while doing volunteer work with refugees in Lesbos, Greece. She found great commonality with his story and the story...

This episode is a chat with Tarah Taylor about how we make our cars go -- and the full spectrum of energy possibilities -- from gas and electric to hydrogen and propane. Taylor is Economic Development Director of Southwest Virginia's chapter of Virginia Clean Cities. Mentioned in this episode: WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia. Stay tuned, connected, informed and entertained. Th...

Princeton History Professor Dr. Sean Wilentz shares his views on Conspiracy Theory, one of his areas of expertise. Wilentz is author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln as well as No Property in Man: Slavery and Anti-slavery. He is a well-known political commentator and his writing on music has earned him two Grammys. In this conversation, Wilentz...

After 30 years as President of the United Mine Workers of America, Cecil Roberts is retiring at the end of October 2025. We asked him for an overview of the coal industry in SW Virginia and surrounding areas. He's clear that things are not like they used to be. How has the number of miners changed? How much coal is there? Where is it sold? How have Trump tariffs affected the sale of coal? Roberts...

Democrat Cindy Green is running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in the Nov. 4 election. She is challenging Republican Delegate Israel O'Quinn who has held the seat since 2011. Topics include campaign financing, issues related to potential cuts to Medicaid, Virginia's Clean Energy Requirement Act that requires 100% clean energy in the state by 2050, Green's view on proposed Virginia C...

Haile Ferrier spent her early years in Emory, Virginia, home of WEHC-FM and This Conversation. Host of the show Teresa Keller goes into groupie/biggest fan mode in the conversation with Haile Ferrier. Haile reviews her time in Emory and her early theatre experiences with Barter Theatre. She traces her short and VERY successful career from Elon University through a role in the national Broadway tou...

Dr. Rob Jones has just returned from Sri Lanka where he was doing battle with a mountain of plastic on the beach of the Indian Ocean. Hear about his organization Parley Oceans Plastic. What are his signs of hope in conquering the plastic problem? Mentioned in this episode: WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia. Stay tuned, connected, informed and entertained. This is listener supported r...

Luke Groom came to Emory & Henry from a small town in East Tennessee. He played football and he sang in the choir. In this interview, you'll hear the story of his pathway to New York and Broadway world tours and his recent months in Thailand. Another fascinating success story from Emory & Henry graduates. And Luke is big-time fun to talk to!! Mentioned in this episode: WEHC 90.7 FM is the...

A special group of actors is presenting a one-time reading of the 1937 play "It Can't Happen Here" at the Martha Washington Inn in Abingdon on Saturday, September 13 at 6:00. The play developed from Sinclair Lewis's 1935 book of the same name, is described as a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy and potential for fascism. The book describes a president who develops a military that ar...

I interviewed "Dalton" many years ago. "Dalton" was a name we used to disguise his real identity. He had been one of my students as a female and was undergoing a gender reassignment to be a male when we talked. "Dalton" recently died, which caused me to find the old interview and listen to it once again. Being transgender has become a topic that is currently a political lightning bolt with fierce,...

  We talk with Thomas Jefferson. What are his thoughts about writing the Declaration of Independence? How can he justify the contradiction in his commitment to individual rights while simultaneously owning slaves? You'll be amazed at how the issues in Jefferson's time mirror current philosophical perspectives on the role of government. And in the latter part of the interview, we meet Kurt Smi...

Former WCYB news anchor Julie Newman now runs PBS Appalachia, an all digital television station, operating from inside Hard Rock Bristol.  After winning the highest honors for the station and leadership, she now faces the challenge of lost funding for PBS from the government.  What is the mission of the station and why is it important?   What is the path forward? Mentioned in t...

David and Jill Dalton live in the William King House in Abingdon. They've restored it and they're sharing it because of its significant history. In fact, the house now hosts a permanent Virginia Historic marker because William Clark -- of Lewis and Clark fame-- spent the night there. And William King was the richest man in the region at the time he built this first brick house -- WITH running wate...

Through a renowned re-enactor, "Thomas Jefferson" will be making several presentations at the popular Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon July 25 through August 3, 2025. Guest Walter Jenny will describe several events that focus on important historical connections to Southwest Virginia. He'll explain why Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that the Battle of Kings Mountain was the turning point in the...

Dr. Julia Adeney Thomas, a professor of History at Notre Dame, is part of a group that is working to rename the current epoch in the history of the earth to "Anthropocene." The "anthro" label suggests that the literal structure of the earth and its biosphere have been changed by human behaviors. The proposition for the new name comes with objections. How did Dr. Thomas, born in Abingdon, Virginia,...

Emory & Henry University is now offering a Certification in Addiction Counseling in the School of Health Sciences Clinical Mental Health Counseling Department at the School of Health Sciences. Program Director Matthew Tirrell talks about the 12-credit post-Master's program and its requirements. He emphasizes the need for the program, both locally and nationally. Those who may be interested in...