Us & Them
Trey Kay and WVPBUs & Them
We tell stories from the fault lines that separate Americans. Peabody Award-winning public radio producer Trey Kay listens to people on both sides of the divide.
We tell stories from the fault lines that separate Americans. Peabody Award-winning public radio producer Trey Kay listens to people on both sides of the divide.
Across the nation, there are a growing number of local news deserts. Communities with no local newspaper, television or radio station to cover what’s going on. For generations, it’s been the local paper that kept track of things. When a small town paper, like The Welch News in McDowell County, WV, can’t compete and shuts down, losing those local eyes and ears can affect accountability. No one is there to watch over things. Local news also provides a sense of cohesion and identity for a community. What happens when it’s gone?
Homelessness is not just an issue for big cities like San Francisco or New York City. Across America, communities large and small are struggling to provide shelter to people without housing. In Charleston, West Virginia, government and community approaches to help the unhoused have created more debate on an issue that is already divisive. Earlier this year, this episode received a second place award from the Virginias AP Broadcasters for Best Podcast.
Across the nation, more than 390-thousand children rely on foster care. However, a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a national crisis. While official foster care cases are carefully tracked, many informal examples of kinship care aren’t part of the data. For this Us & Them episode, we hear the experiences of those who’ve been part of the foster care system.
Millions of people in the U.S. cannot vote because they’ve been convicted of a felony. A majority of those are not currently in prison, but on probation or parole. In this episode, we look at the nation’s patchwork of voting rights laws and the confusion they can create.
In February, a federal judge in Arizona halted the spraying of the herbicide dicamba, but the Environmental Protection Agency says farmers are allowed to use it for this coming growing season. In this installment of Us & Them, we listen back to a story from our archives, exploring the heated conflict unraveling in agricultural communities.
Medicaid is undergoing a major review to determine the eligibility of millions, but not everyone is getting the notice. For this Us & Them, we look at changes to a health care safety net program that serves more than 90 million low income Americans.
State borders are now all important in determining access to abortion. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, West Virginia’s only abortion clinic has moved across the border to Maryland to continue providing abortions.
For the hundreds of thousands of West Virginians with a criminal record, it’s tough to find a second chance. New state laws make some crimes eligible for expungement and can seal a person’s criminal record. But some say giving a clean slate to someone with a record is dangerous.
Our nation’s capital can make and break careers. In a very short period, Cassidy Hutchinson went from a complete outsider to traveling on Air Force One with the President of the United States. She tells Trey Kay about life on either side of the political divide.
As we close out 2023, we look ahead to a new year with a landscape partially defined by fear and mistrust. Many Americans say their confidence is shaken. They feel like every institution — from the government, to the banking system, to corporations, to religion, to the news media — are corrupt. What to do when so many of us can’t trust the institutions that hold our society together?
Sometimes friendships show up when we don’t expect them. That was true of Us & Them host Trey Kay’s friendship with Alice Moore — a conservative Christian county school board member, who sparked a turbulent textbook controversy in Kay’s home county back in the 1970s. Kay and Moore saw education, religion, homosexuality and Trump very differently, but were still dear friends.
Science and research can lead to important breakthroughs. But in a divided America, not everyone trusts the results. On the next Us & Them, Trey Kay speaks with three expert guests before an audience full of curious people at Marshall University in Huntington, WV and asks: How shaken is our confidence in scientists and the scientific process?
For the past four years, Trey Kay has gathered a group of West Virginians — four from the political right and four from the left — for the “Us & Them Dinner Party.” The discussion at this year’s gathering focused on former President Trump’s indictments, abortion laws, diminishing public trust and more.
We used to trust the news but now some polls and surveys show that our confidence has eroded. Recently, the Us & Them team partnered with West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media for a conversation on diminished trust in journalism. Host Trey Kay spoke with Raney Aronson-Rath, editor-in-chief and executive producer of PBS Frontline, and June Cross, director of the documentary journalism program at the Columbia Journalism School.
Over the past few years, some people have severed their digital lifeline with friends and family because of political differences. With the click of a single button the social media connection is gone. Click - buh-bye! The decision can mean you're out of touch and cut off from that person’s life. But two childhood friends from Gallipolis, OH — who vote very differently — have committed to doing just the opposite.
America stopped institutionalizing people with mental illness decades ago. But now, many are caught up in a system not meant for them. On this episode of Us & Them, we’ll hear what it’s like to live with mental illness behind bars in the Mountain State.
After a disaster, people look for help and answers. In East Palestine, Ohio some residents just want to go home. In this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay hears from residents who still face daunting challenges.
New laws in more than twenty states ban transgender girls and women from competing on girls and womens teams. Transgender athletes say they want to play a sport they love. Those supporting the new bans, say the laws are not anti-trans. Instead, they say the goal is to protect girls and women from competing against the biological advantages they believe transgender girls and women have.
Travel is one way to learn —Us & Them host Trey Kay followed a tour group traveling through southern U.S. states to learn some very Black and white lessons.
In West Virginia and many other states, there’s a court of second chances. It’s a court-monitored drug treatment program designed to help people stay clean and out of jail. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay asks: How do these treatment courts work for adults and juveniles?
Hunger and poverty are universal challenges, but in the U.S. for more than 50 years, support programs like SNAP or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have provided help to those in need. On this Us & Them, host Trey Kay talks with three people — a retiree, a mom and a lawmaker — who all say that nutritional support has made a difference in their lives.
West VIrginia’s state prisons and jails are overcrowded and understaffed. About half of those incarcerated are there because they can’t make their bail. Many are poor and a disproportionate number are Black.
Larry Bellorín is a musician from Venezuela, who is seeking asylum in the U.S. He thought his musical career was in the past until he met Joe Troop, a GRAMMY-nominated musician and North Carolina native who introduced Larry to the folk music and traditions of Appalachia, which seemed quite similar to the joropo he played in Venezuela. Their duo, Larry & Joe, is the realization of a dream for both musicians. It’s also a reminder for Larry of what — and who — he had to leave behind.
In schools across the nation, when students of color misbehave, they are disciplined at twice the rate of white students. That means Black and brown students are more likely to face suspension or expulsion. West Virginia lawmakers worry students are not facing the right consequences for their misbehavior. A new state law is designed to make schools safer. In this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay looks at new approaches to school discipline.
West Virginia-born fiddler Phillip Bowen writes songs that reflect love for the place he calls home. His descriptions of the people and places from his childhood touch the ear and heart like a sentimental postcard. But he’s also willing to share songs that remember those who’ve been marginalized or forgotten.
At a time when an alarming number of mass shootings continue to happen all over America, the Us & Them team was recently honored with a first place award for best documentary from Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters. In this report, we explore the foundations of the Second Amendment and the cultural and historical beliefs and myths that contribute to our very American divide over guns.
For struggling rural hospitals, obstetric and prenatal services tend to be some of the first on the chopping block. Over the past decade, 89 rural hospitals across the country closed their obstetric units. And when medical options shrink — families have to make hard decisions about how and where to get care.
According to recent health rankings, West Virginia tops the charts for the rates of obesity and diabetes. More than a decade ago, West Virginia made headlines with the nation’s fattest city. Since then, some things have changed.
From coast to coast, communities large and small are struggling to provide shelter to people without housing. In Charleston, WV, approaches to address homelessness have created “us and them” divisions within divisions.
At least 95% of people behind bars will be released. Some say a formerly incarcerated person’s successful reentry into society requires more focus on rebuilding an individual and less on punishment. Criminal justice reform efforts also address a victim-centered approach, but some believe that fundamental change might require addressing past trauma of victims as well as the perpetrators of crimes.
For this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay talks with author Kyle Spencer about her book “Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultra-conservative Youth Movement and Its Plot for Power.” Spencer paints the story of a decades-long conservative organizing strategy to engage and mobilize young people. Trey also speaks with Abby Kiesa from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
America’s housing shortage has some people worried about where they’ll call home. For this Us & Them episode, we look at the housing struggle in urban West Philadelphia and rural West Virginia. Affordable housing is tough for some Americans now that pandemic relief programs are gone and eviction and foreclosure moratoriums have expired.
For hundreds of thousands of young Americans, international adoption creates a complex cultural legacy. For this Us & Them episode...we look at one family’s experience.
On this episode of Us & Them, we’re taking stock of where the nation stands. In the waning days of 2022 — a year with lots of big political news and some very disturbing events — Us & Them host Trey Kay has been asking people “How’s America doing?”
In West Virginia and many other states, there’s a court of second chances. It’s a court-monitored drug treatment program designed to help people stay clean and out of jail. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay asks: How do these treatment courts work for adults and juveniles?
There are many ways to map the future: learning from the past, asking questions and identifying priorities. All of these things help develop a civic imagination. For this episode, we head to West Virginia’s economically challenged Upper Kanawha Valley to hear people from diverse backgrounds consider what their future could look like.
The landscape of abortion law is changing. On this episode of Us & Them, we consider: what comes next in this post-Roe world?
In the run-up to the 2022 Midterm Elections, the Us & Them dinner party crew finally met face to face! They disagree on many things, including the 2020 Election and January 6. It’s not a surprise that there was plenty of conversation about the Supreme Court’s ruling over abortion access. After 2 years of COVID social distance, the crew gathered like a family around one table, breaking bread, talking politics and trying to understand their differences.
For decades, Joe Manchin has defined and redefined politics in West Virginia. For this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay asks West Virginia progressives: How is Joe Manchin’s reputation shaping his future and the country’s?
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin represents one of the most powerful factions in American politics — the middle. How far can that take him?
The January 6th Hearings offer a continuing look into the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. But plenty of people are just not interested. On this episode of Us & Them — who’s watching the hearings, who’s not and why?
The battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 might be West Virginia's ultimate ‘us and them’ story — labor versus absentee landowners; working class versus ruling class; West Virginia versus the world.
Those Who Lack Good Oral Health Face Far More Than A Toothless Hillbilly Stereotype.
New laws in more than a dozen states ban transgender girls and women from competing on girls and womens teams. Transgender athletes say they want to play a sport they love. Those supporting the new bans, say the laws are not anti-trans. Instead, they say the goal is to protect girls and women from competing against the biological advantages they believe transgender girls and women have.
A Black Lives Matter march in the tiny town of Kingwood, West Virginia exposed the raw seam of rage that has come to define racism in this country. In this episode, host Trey Kay speaks with a woman pushing back at the fear and outrage of racial hatred in America.
This Us & Them episode offers an update on global COVID vaccination efforts. Nearly 67% of US citizens are fully vaccinated. Now, the effort shifts to providing vaccine to the world — even in places where logistics are complex. There are still more than a dozen countries with COVID vaccination rates at less than ten percent. Now that vaccine supply is more plentiful, some look to the future and ways that we can learn from this experience.
Some doctors and nurses are taking their COVID care beyond the bedside. They’re using social media to share medical information and to push back against rumors and fear.
We explore the foundations of the Second Amendment and the cultural and historical beliefs and myths that contribute to our very American divide over guns.
A lot of people in the agriculture industry see themselves as an “us“ and that they are the only ones who have standing to talk about this matter. But there’s evidence that the use of the herbicide “Dicamba” impacts all the rest of “us.”
There’s a broad spectrum of trust when it comes to information about COVID and vaccinations. Some say they want an honest conversation about risks and rewards, but aren’t hearing it. Healthcare experts say the pandemic has presented a range of moving targets. They recognize the challenge people face looking for information. For this episode, host Trey Kay speaks to people at different stations on the broad range of the trust continuum.
The debate over curriculum choices and classroom materials has emerged again across the nation as a major topic of division. Some say educators should decide what’s appropriate for students, while others advocate for more “parental choice.” There are also parents who call for some books to be banned from public schools.
The story of who we are as a nation is being challenged. Examining America’s racial history is not easy and not welcomed by everyone.
Surrounding Students With Black Excellence While Aiming For A Global Experience
For more than a year, a public health campaign has tried to sell a simple message - get a shot and save a life. The goal - to convince people to get a COVID-19 vaccination. But in an era when public trust is at a low, West Virginia’s vaccination campaign hasn’t produced the uptick in vaccinations many had hoped for. Us & Them host Trey Kay asks public health and marketing experts: What will work to sell people on the vaccine?
Today, we can document much of our world with devices and cameras. But few lenses were pointed at a 1970 riot in Augusta, Georgia. We’ll learn why so few people remember this turbulent Civil Rights protest.
A 1998 study on Adverse Childhood Experiences (also known as “ACEs”) concluded that traumas early in life can lead to poor health outcomes later on. Today, the findings of the study are considered ground-breaking and have sparked a world-wide social healing movement. But some say using such a rubric to assess a person’s traumatic experiences won’t work for everyone and may simply label and limit their future potential.
A new COVID variant shows the result of global vaccination inequities. On this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay examines the consequences of an ‘America First’ focus, as millions of people around the globe still wait for their FIRST COVID vaccination.
New variants of the COVID virus continue to challenge public health officials. But as local leaders make recommendations on masks and vaccinations, they become targets.
Travel is one way to learn - this fall, a tour group traveled southern U.S. states to learn some very Black and white lessons.
For Thanksgiving, host Trey Kay gathers the Us & Them dinner party around the table to chew over some of the contentious issues of the day.
Us & Them host Trey Kay honors Veterans Day with a remarkable conversation with the last surviving World War ll U.S. Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor.
West Virginia is now joining the other 42 states that offer public charter schools as an education choice for parents and students. The charter movement got its start in Minnesota three decades ago and created an ‘us and them’ divide that’s lasted ever since.
A look at a key civil rights battle that immigrant children fought to ensure equal access to education within a xenophobic nation.
While the rest of the country is experiencing sharp declines in youth confined to correctional and residential facilities, West Virginia confines a higher share of its youth than almost any state in the nation. Why is this?
The battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 might be West Virginia's ultimate ‘us and them’ story — labor versus absentee landowners; working class versus ruling class; West Virginia versus the world.
This Us & Them episode, which was recently honored with a 2012 National Edward R. Murrow award, examines: How can society support grandparents who are raising the children of their drug-addicted children?
Americans tend to sort themselves into tribes that share similar culture, ideas and values. Us & Them host Trey Kay recalls kids at his West Virginia high school sorting themselves into different camps and how one dressed was often a defining factor, right down to the shoes.
The fight for sobriety comes in many forms. For some, abstinence works. For others, it takes medication to kick addiction. But that creates its own battle.
In 1968, a Charleston, West Virginia band did something brave. It wasn't the easy thing, but it put them on the right side of history.
Is America ready to care for a growing number of senior citizens?
Those Who Lack Good Oral Health Face Far More Than A Toothless Hillbilly Stereotype
There are so many young people in the U.S. who are not in school, or working, or training for work, that there’s a name for it. They are ‘disconnected youth.’
West Virginia Struggles To Reinvent Itself As A Start-Up State To Attract, And Retain Young Professionals.
After a year of extraordinary social, racial, political and economic upheaval, some people say they’ve lost trust in one another, our institutions and our government. What do we risk if we’re unwilling to trust in our fellow Americans?
A year of working remotely during a global pandemic has shown us that having access to reliable, fast internet is neither a luxury nor just for city dwellers. In this episode of Us & Them, we’ll hear about the internet challenges from residents of rural Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
We look in the rearview mirror at changes from a year defined by COVID-19.
The CDC says the year of COVID-19 has been deadly for people living with a substance addiction. Isolation, anxiety and boredom, three triggers for drug abuse, have created a so-called mental health ‘shadow pandemic.’
COVID-19 exposes an "us and them" divide in healthcare. The coronavirus is about three times more likely to put African-American and Latino people in the hospital and they are twice as likely than whites to die from COVID.
Older people are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and many of them care for their grandkids full time.
Us & Them host Trey Kay reflects on his “Year in COVID” and what’s helped him get clarity on the whole experience.
People around the world have spent nearly a year sheltering at home to avoid a global pandemic. For those who are homeless, the challenge of COVID-19 isn’t even on their list. What’s on their mind is: “Am I gonna eat?”
A Black Lives Matter march in the tiny town of Kingwood, West Virginia exposed the raw seam of rage that has come to define racism in this country. In this episode, host Trey Kay speaks with a woman pushing back at the fear and outrage of racial hatred in America.
2020 was a tragic year that we "muddled through somehow." It was a series of adaptations that presented a choice: sink or swim.
Faith practices in the time of COVID-19 look and feel different, but how has the virus changed our spirituality?
The Us & Them virtual dinner party is back — this time, for a post-election discussion over dessert. Host Trey Kay’s guests hail from across the political divide and talk about how honest, open conversation might help bring the country together.
As we enter the end-of-the-year holidays, group celebrations are discouraged to reduce COVID-19 infections. On this episode of Us & Them, a look at how people across the country seek to connect with others by adopting new food traditions.
There’s a group of workers on which some argue our very economy relies on: child-care providers.
As votes are counted and winners declared, it’s possible that some Americans will dispute the outcome — clear evidence of the “Us & Them” all around us. So how do we move forward?
Us & Them Dinner Guests Show That Political Differences Don't Have To Be Painful or Polarizing.
Bo Copley was an unemployed miner who got the chance to ask then-candidate Hillary Clinton a question that resonated with many people. In 2018, Copley waged a political campaign for the U.S. Senate. A new documentary shadows Copley’s unsuccessful run for office and the things he learned from the experience.
COVID has shuttered businesses. It’s forced people of all ages out of work. On this episode of Us & Them, we look at what kind of training and education will pay off? Business leaders say they are hiring. How do we match workers with jobs?
We hear the story of a woman who walked away from her life as a white supremacist.
Just how healthy is our health care system and which institutions will survive to help redefine the future of medicine?
How are people likely to respond to a COVID vaccination when it’s finally developed?
How has Kermit, WV recovered a decade after millions of prescription opioid pills were sent to their tiny town?
When the pandemic hit in March, an eating disorder center had to scramble to change its approach to treatment to address the isolated nature of sheltering in place and social distancing.
Is it possible to have a civil conversation about abortion across the divide?
Social distancing and shut downs related to COVID 19 have significantly impacted mental health treatment.
In the days after the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, Us & Them thinks it's the right time to review "The Black Talk.""
Trey speaks with American farmers about the challenges of producing food in the age of COVID-19.
Trey speaks Trey speaks with WV’s “COVID-19 Czar,” who sees the pandemic as an opportunity to fix the parts of the state's healthcare system that fail some West Virginians.
During the pandemic, West Virginia teachers and families have been resourceful in making sure that education continues successfully. But during this challenging time, one unfortunate lesson learned is that all students aren’t equal.
Ten years ago, 29 men were killed in the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. A new play called “Coal Country” shines a light on the prejudice against America’s rural working class.
New Yorkers helping a West Virginian traveling nurse willing to help New Yorkers feels like an “Us and Them” moment.
Just when you thought the world couldn't stand more division, the novel coronavirus divides us (and them) even more.
A man instigates community change in rural Appalachia from the bottom up.
Two Appalachian mayors of former coal towns fight to keep their communities from becoming ghost towns.
There’s a West Virginia homeless encampment that gives people a legal place to stay. Life outside is rough, but life together can be safer. On this Us & Them...the people in the camp, the man trying to help - and the neighbors who worry about the future.
How can society support grandparents who are raising the children of their drug-addicted children?
How diversity divided one college town and forced its first African-American president out of the job.
Does pressure to remove controversial memorials sanitize our history or help us reflect the values of who we are as citizens today?
From the early 1950s through the early 1970s, the U.S. government had a program to move Native Americans from reservations to cities. One U.S. official described the initiative as a “one way ticket from rural to urban poverty.”
Music as confronter, truth teller, the thread that mends the tear and the balm that heals the soul.
Trey Kay speaks with “On The Media” host Bob Garfield about The Purple Project for Democracy.
Is it possible to have a civil conversation about abortion across the divide?
A man's life mission is to cut funding for public schools.
This Us & Them episode brings us three tales of coal and its future in Appalachia.
The impact that natural disasters, like hurricane Dorian, can have on immigrant workers.
A sad unexpected conclusion to the story of the murder of James Means, a 15-year-old African American boy.
Trey speaks with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a respected climate scientist, as well as a devoted evangelical Christian – two descriptions that some Americans don’t think naturally go together.
The man who killed James Means changes his mind…again.
This episode is an update on "Farm Wars"
The man who plead guilty to the 2nd Degree Murder of James Means seeks to revoke plea
Trey is trying to reconcile an Us & Them world without MAD Magazine.
A surprise ending in the case of the man who shot and killed James Means
A former Guantanamo detainee and his American prison guard from a deep friendship across the Us & Them divide.
What do you call these places where U.S. authorities hold people who illegally cross the southern border? Detention centers? Detainment areas? Concentration camps?
Things have changed in major ways for LGBTQ people living in Red States, but things aren’t settled -- not by a long shot.
A night in a college dorm room goes seriously wrong. Do you call it sexual assault or rape? A sexual assault survivor and her perpetrator use whatever definition that helps get the healing done.
Arkansas farmers face a dilemma battling superweeds-- it’s a choice between doing what’s good for business or being a good neighbor.
An African-American family is frustrated with the multiple delays in the prosecution of the older white man, who shot, killed and maligned the memory of James Means, a teenage boy.
In Charleston, WV back in November 2016, William Pulliam, a 62-year-old white man, shot and killed James Means, a 15-year-old African-American boy. The case made national headlines. Reports say during his confession, Pulliam told police, “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off of the street.”
Trey Kay speaks with reporter Caitlin Esch about opioid addication in Appalachia
Vaccination laws in West Virginia and Mississippi are the model for the nation.
We reconnect with Anne Kelly Skinner, a transgender woman working to find her "femme voice".
Trey speaks with West Virginia politicians about the state’s plans for helping felons get back into the workforce.
An examination of the talk many black families have with their teenage sons about interacting with police.
A dive into the patriarchy, and its consequences, with help from John Biewen & Celeste Headlee.
The story of an unlikely friendship between a Guantanamo Bay detainee and his prison guard.
Christmas traditionalists feel there is an attack being waged on the holiday, while secularists are bothered by its privileged place in a country known for its separation of church and state.
A Latino comedy troupe revives a 20-year-old stage show about the Mexican border because it's more pertinent than ever.
Addressing the opioid epidemic is one thing the Left and the Right have come together on. But the Red State and Blue State experiences are very different.
An historic look at the divisive controversy over multi-cultural textbooks in Kanawha County West Virginia in 1974.
Some jars of preserves help preserve the peace at one family gathering.
Newsrooms have seen threats, suspicious packages, even shootings. Can they win back trust?
What's the message from the midterm results?
Do kids learn to read the same way they learn to talk?
A red-state voter and a blue-state voter talk it out.
Immigration pushes different political buttons in West Virginia and California.
Us & Them follows the story of a young man from New Hampshire who gets hooked on heroin.
Coal mining means vastly different things to Californians and West Virginians
Joe Manchin is an "old-school West Virginia Democrat." That means sort of red and sort of blue.
Can a political party lead America without connecting to Rural America?
With all turmoil surrounding Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, red and blue state voters are taking the long view.
What do West Virginia and California have to say to each other?
Us & Them premieres on the radio with 4 selections from some of our favorite shows
A modern day Woody Guthrie uses music to help people in crisis heal.
Love it or hate it, it’s football season. And it looks like we’re in for another year of the nation focusing as much as what happens before the kickoff, as on the field.
For these West Virginia high school kids, it's all about the shoes.
Religion has been a part of America’s classrooms ever since there were public schools, so why do some people think schools are hostile to religion?
Gentrification - evolution(?) of Brooklyn, Chicago, New Orleans
What happens when an Iraq War Veteran enrolls at Vassar College? A true story
The playgrounds of the wealthy require custodians. What happens when there's no place to house them?
What’s it like to be gay in Appalachia today?
Essi would cross the desert for her, even with false papers, and he lived to tell about it.
She's an evangelical Christian; she's also a respected climate scientist.
Meet Dimitri, an evangelist for Ibogaine, the wonder-drug that kicked his heroin addiction.
Dissecting a past episode for missteps is never fun. We're bringing you along!!
Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg on the meaning of jihad; former Guantanamo MP Albert Melise explains why he wanted to re-enlist and go back to the island. And more!
"Those ordinary decent American individuals made a massive difference in my existence in Guantanamo."
We appear to have a love-hate relationship with detention camps.
How old were you when you first learned that police may think of you as a threat?
Have you had "the talk" yet?
Trey Kay: Jonas smothered me. I was held captive for 27-1/2 hours.
What do you do when a panhandler hits you up for some money?
Amazing Grace - The hymn written by a slave trader becomes an anthem for civil rights.
Feminism is 2017's "it" word: From the Women's March to Doug Jones' election, this year has been one rollercoaster ride for women.
"He knew it was hurting us, and it was killing him. But he couldn’t help himself."
William Pulliam, a 62-year-old white man, shot James Means, a 15-year-old African-American boy, after the two had an argument outside of a Dollar General Store in Charleston, WV. In his admission, Pulliam said, “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off of the street.”
The Wertheimers were the only Jews in their community. Linda and her brother felt confused and ostracized when a lady came to their classroom each week to lead a class that felt less like social studies and more like Sunday school.
How a proactive partnership changed perceptions between police and the black community.
A program in Charleston, WV pays for police officers $50k to resettle in some of the city's toughest neighborhoods.
At a time when the President of the United States questions the patriotism of African American football players protesting social injustice, we present the civil rights struggle of another African American who, nearly 50 years ago, broke a color...
Like many from his state, Trey was weaned on the jingle “Coal is West Virginia!” For this episode, we meet two West Virginians who see the mining industry in completely different ways: one who believes coal is the lifeblood of the...
Americans tend to sort themselves into tribes that share similar culture, ideas and values. Trey recalls kids at his West Virginia high school sorting themselves into different camps and how one dressed was a defining factor, right down to the shoes.
The tragedy in Charlottesville, VA makes us wonder if it’s possible to reconcile different versions of history. This episode features two American foreign correspondents of color who’ve sought to answer this quandary. They fly from Kenya to New...
When conservatives and liberals fight about school curriculum, the disagreements aren’t just about science and history. Even math has been a battleground in the culture wars. Also, Common Core was a hot button issue during the 2016 Presidential...
Deanna McKinney’s been through one of the hardest things a parent can endure. Her teenage son was gunned down on her front porch by a kid looking to join a gang. Now she’s making meaning out of the tragedy by working to ensure a better...
Everyone knows the song. People who don’t consider themselves spiritual or religious find it meaningful. John Newton penned the hymn to connect with Christians, but it has transcended that and become a folk song and an anthem for civil rights. The...
Not that long ago, you could get locked up for being gay. A West Virginia man tells Trey about being sent to a mental institution for violating sodomy laws. While standing in front of the historic Stonewall Inn in NY’s Greenwich Village, gay...
After four years of commanding a tank in Iraq, David Carrell, a Republican from Texas, had the opportunity to study at a liberal college in the northeast. He tells Trey what he’s observed about Red and Blue America.
When a neighborhood transforms, newcomers can feel unwelcome, while longtime residents feel threatened. But is there a sweet spot when everyone in the community lives in harmony?
Empathy... it's a word we've heard a lot in the past year. But what is it? And do we need it? Trey explains what he learned about empathy from... a textbook!
North Carolina repealed its notorious bathroom law, but not necessarily for the better. Transsexuals remain outside NC’s equal protection laws—whether in the bathroom or in the workplace. All of this has got me thinking about my friend Anne Kelly.
Essi and Katie fell in love before the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution and growing antipathy between America and Ayatollah Khomeini. Despite many fantastic twists and dangerous turns, their love has triumphed over archenemies' hatred.
Where some Trump supporters have been loud and proud, others have remained in the shadows. With the new boss installed, it’s “olly olly in come free!” Trey speaks with Trump voters about their hopes, dreams and expectations.
An Us and Them conversation turns ugly and Trey loses it. He becomes concerned about with his physical, mental and spiritual health.
The 2016 presidential campaign was one of the most brutal in America’s history. Trey was stunned by the outcome and is trying understand what the whole thing means. Are truth and bitter reality the new Us? Have our news sources become Them?
Mary Lou Bruner, who made headlines with her wild accusations about President Obama, is running for Texas State Board of Education. If elected, she’ll be responsible for guiding the nation’s second largest public school system. Could she influence...
Something has shifted in the way our society thinks and
talks about heroin addicts these days. Could it be that smack users
seem more like ‘us’ and less like ‘them’?
Dimitri Mugianis has an undying love for drug addicts. He's a former junkie who's been clean for a decade. Now he feels a calling to help other addicts -- "my people," he calls them -- by using unconventional “shamanistic” treatment...
Anne Kelly always felt like she was born into the wrong body. She began life as a man, but is now transitioning into a woman. She’s got the looking like a woman part down. It’s the sounding like a woman thing that’s harder than she...
In 1969, James “Shack” Harris became the first African American quarterback to break the color line in the NFL.
How 27 hours of being snow-bound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike helps Trey file a report to the Keystone State’s “Office of Lessons Learned.”
Veteran journalist – or “cultural anthropologist” – Scott Carrier speaks with people fleeing war-torn Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries as they seek refuge in Europe.
Some feel there’s an attack on this sacred holiday. Others are bothered that this religious holiday has blurred America’s church/state separation. But is this really a war?
With acts of terrorism in Paris and San Bernardino, some Americans are suspicious of Muslim neighbors and immigrants. Warranted fear or paranoia?
Would Americans vote for an atheist president? A recent poll says no way. In this episode, a social psychologist tells us why this might be.
Jesus said, “Love your enemies." Today’s politicians ask God to bless America, but in the same breath, they call their political opponents "enemies." Labels help us organize the world along fault lines, but is this the best...
Not that long ago, you could get locked up for being gay. A West Virginia man tells Trey about being sent to a mental institution for violating the state’s sodomy laws.
Can we reconcile different versions of history? Two American foreign correspondents of color fly from Kenya to Louisiana to report on an unfinished civil war back home.
A recent photo essay depicting Appalachians has stirred controversy in that region. Some locals feel violated when outsiders come into their communities snapping photos. Are these shutterbugs depicting reality or reinforcing stereotypes?...
When conservatives and liberals fight about school curriculum, the disagreements aren't just about science and history. Even math has been a battleground in the culture wars. Trey talks with historian Christopher Phillips.
Lots of American school districts have fierce fights over what kids should learn in school, but nobody fights like Texans. And no citizens have had a bigger impact on what goes into public school textbooks than Mel and Norma Gabler.
The Supreme Court says you can't have organized prayer in public schools. But most Americans don't agree with that call -- and some people are still finding ways to make sure public school children have a chance to hear about God.
Two men with strong opinions about evolution and climate change are willing to lay their money on the line.
The Condederate flag and the song "Dixie" -- two enduring Old South icons that make us wonder if the war ever ended.
The chair of the University of Minnesota's program for Sexual Health Education tells Trey most sexual health instruction focuses on adolescents and that maybe adults might also need some instruction.
Despite all the fuss about sex education in America, students get precious little of it. Jonathan Zimmerman, an education historian, tells Trey how Americans spend more time arguing about what kids should learn about human sexuality in schools...
If you give money to panhandlers, are you helping them or hurting them? And do they really need help? People have strong opinions. We try to separate the facts from the ideology.
Americans' attitudes toward gay relationships have changed dramatically in a short time. Trey Kay returns to his home state of West Virginia to see how this change is playing out in a state where 53 percent of residents believe the Bible is the literal w
In 1974, Kanawha County West Virginia was an early battleground in the American culture wars. The fight focused on what children should learn in school.
Decades before same-sex marriage became legal, the Reverend Jim Lewis of Charleston, West Virginia sparked outrage by blessing the unions of gay men and lesbians in his church.
A blue state secular liberal and a red state conservative Christian have an unlikely friendship. And a slug burger.
Us & Them: Another Small Town Paper Down
March 26, 202452min
Our country’s divides often reveal themselves in our choices and habits, including how and where we get our information. As the economics of the media landscape have imploded, the economics of the industry have forced changes. In the past two decades, online sites have taken over much of the income stream from classified ads and general advertising. That has led newspapers and broadcasters to slash thousands of jobs. Many local news outlets have gone out of business and there are now more than 200 counties across the country with no source of local news. One of those is McDowell County in West Virginia. Last year, publisher Missy Nester was forced to shut down the Welch Daily News after a valiant effort to keep the paper running. Join host Trey Kay and reporter Todd Melby on this episode of Us & Them to see what happens when local news organizations stop telling the stories of a community.