In Charleston, West Virginia, there’s a monthly live storytelling event called “Three Things” that invites three highly-visible members of the community to talk about their careers. The guests are asked to follow a simple prompt: tell the audience about their First, their Favorite and their Future. Jeff Shirley, the producer and host of “Three Thin…

Many people expected the 2024 presidential election would be unpredictable. But no one anticipated the recent sequence of events - Joe Biden’s debate performance, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s move to the top of the Democratic ticket. On this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay looks at where all this is leading to… the…

There’s a serious labor shortage in the U.S. right now with millions of jobs going unfilled. Each year, West Virginia releases 50,000 people from state prisons and local jails and all those people need jobs. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay spotlights a recent event in Charleston, West Virginia called “Second Chances for a Stronger Workf…

America’s prisons incarcerate people who’ve violated the law, but at some point, at least 95% of all state prisoners will be released back into the free world. Some struggle to navigate that transition successfully. On this encore Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay hears about the challenges of reentry. Some of those challenges are essential but basi…

Overcrowding and understaffing have pushed West Virginia’s prisons and jails to what many believe is a crisis point. On this Us & Them, we hear what incarceration is like for someone in a mental health crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people with mental illnesses are caught up in a criminal justice system that was never intended to treat them. In a…

We are releasing this bonus podcast because this month marks a significant milestone for Us & Them, West Virginia and actually American history. Fifty years ago today, on June 27th, the Board of Education in Kanawha County, West Virginia set off a chapter of the nation’s culture wars as it debated whether to purchase a controversial series of new t…

Fifty years ago this month, a fierce controversy erupted over newly adopted school textbooks in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The fight led to violent protests in West Virginia. Dynamite hit school buildings. Bullets hit buses. And protesting miners forced some coal mines to shut down - because of the new multicultural textbooks. The classroom mat…

Forty-two million Americans or about 12 percent of the the population need help feeding their families. That help often comes from a federal program called SNAP - which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. The Mountain State is one of the top recipients of SNAP benefits. Nearly 45 percent of recipients …

We continue to learn more about the way childhood trauma can affect our physical and psychological health and the result is creating a social movement. More than two decades ago, researchers first came up with a way to assess the impact of childhood neglect, abuse and family dysfunction. Nearly half the kids under 18 in the U.S. have had an adverse…

Homelessness has been on the rise since 2016 and the pandemic only exacerbated an acute shortage of resources to help people living on the streets. Now, many communities are struggling to provide support as some homeless people turn away from emergency shelters and remain in outdoor encampments. In Charleston, West Virginia, the city’s opioid respo…

There’s a foster care crisis in America. Nationally, more than 390,000 children are in foster care, in West Virginia that’s just over 6,000 children who need a safe place to call home. Last year, more than half of all states saw their number of licensed homes drop, some as high as 60 percent. That challenge comes because new foster parents don’t st…

More than 4.5 million Americans cannot vote because of a felony conviction but only about a quarter are currently in prison. On the newest episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay talks with people who support expanded voting rights for felons, and those who say people who’ve committed crimes should forfeit their rights until they serve their entire sen…

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…

There's a nationwide rift among farmers over the use of dicamba, a popular herbicide. A 2024 federal court ruling has halted dicamba's use, but the Environmental Protection Agency has given the green light for farmers to use existing supplies this year. In this episode of Us & Them, we revisit a story from our archives that delves into the intense …

Our healthcare systems continue to struggle from aftereffects of the pandemic. The most recent example spotlights Medicaid - a joint federal and state program that provides health coverage for more than 90 million Americans with limited resources. After several years of continuous coverage, now everyone must reapply for eligibility. In the this epi…

State borders are the new front lines in the nation’s abortion battle. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the evolving geography of abortion. Since a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned federal abortion rights, 21 states have either banned or restricted abortion access, including West Virginia. Meanwhile, West Virginia’s n…

It’s estimated that more than a quarter of the adults in West Virginia have a criminal record. That includes cases with one arrest or more, but no conviction or jail time. Those records can still show up years later in a background check and make someone ineligible for a job or a place to live. On this Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the road tow…

American politics is now a very ‘us and them’ world. Insiders know the privilege of power, but loyalties can shift and doors can slam shut. Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked in the Trump administration knows both sides. She was a dedicated White House staffer who’s best known for her stunning testimony to the January 6th committee. Us & Them host Trey…

It’s the time of year to look back on where we’ve been and prepare for what’s ahead. Us & Them host Trey Kay has been reflecting on 2023, and a theme that’s been consistent - trust, or more importantly, our lack of trust in each other and our institutions. In this episode, we’ll explore how that reality could shape the year to come and its social a…

Friendships that last through the years can be a remarkable gift. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay remembers his dear friend Alice Moore who recently passed away. Kay talks about the gentle kindness that defined their relationship, which stretched across the divides of their social and political beliefs. Moore made West Virginia — and na…