SWAMPSCOTT — The Health Department launched a podcast titled “Local Public Health: Conversations exploring public health on the North Shore in Massachusetts and beyond.”

The podcast aims to educate listeners on public health from a local, state, national, and global perspective while also emphasizing the significance of the field. It is hosted by three local professionals who have more than 40 years of public health experience combined — Public Health Director Jeffrey Vaughan, Public Health Nurse and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Neia Illingworth, and Boston University Master of Public Health candidate Olivia Wilson. Wilson is currently completing a practicum with the health department, with a focus on mental health substance use.

The inaugural ten-minute episode, titled “What is Public Health?” can be accessed for free on the Swampscott town website. The second episode, which is yet to release, is slated to be centered around the nationwide opioid epidemic. According to the health department, it plans on including a variety of additional perspectives to the show such as health care providers, leaders from other community health departments, and community members.