Us & Them
Episodes
Remembering The Augusta Riot
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We can document almost everything around us with devices of all kinds. But in 1970, there were few cameras around when police opened fire on crowds in...
Can Childhood Trauma Limit The Future?
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A social movement has been gaining steam in the past decade as we’ve learned more about the way trauma can affect our physical and psychological hea...
Vaccine Inequities Have Consequences
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus pandemic continues to prove just how interconnected the world is. Now, a new COVID strain called “omicron,” shows the potential do...
Vax Scapegoat?
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Masks and vaccines continue to trigger Us & Them divides across the nation. As statewide public health mandates have dwindled, public health choic...
Leaving The White Bubble
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Travel is an activity some people use as a classroom. Leaving the familiar lets us learn about culture, history, the environment and many other topi...
A Platefull of Politics
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s another Thanksgiving with COVID-19, but this time, vaccinations allow many Americans to gather together and share a hug and a meal. Us & Th...
Last Man Honored
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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...
West Virginia's Charter School Era Begins
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
West Virginia is now the 42nd state to introduce public charter schools as an education choice for parents and students. A new state law allows the cr...
Fighting to Learn
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
America is seen as a land of opportunities and education for all. But a group of young refugees in Pennsylvania had to challenge the local school dist...
Juvie: Why are so many young West Virginians incarcerated and at what cost?
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, West Virginia children are taken into state custody. Sometimes, a case involves parental neglect or drug abuse. Other times, kids commit c...
Blair Mountain
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One hundred years ago West Virginia was home to our nation’s most violent labor uprising. For some, the Battle of Blair Mountain was a watershed mom...
Grandfamilies of the Opioid Crisis
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
WVPB’s Us & Them introduces us to an unusual cultural divide, one that exists within families. It’s a generation split that comes when chemica...
Hillers & Creekers
12 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our cultural divides start early in America - some even in childhood. As kids, we learn where we come from and where we belong. Those divisions can re...
The Stigma of Sobriety
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
America has faced a pandemic, a polarizing election and racial equity battles in the past year. But there’s been another crisis continuing to fester...
A Band On The Right Side Of History
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty years ago, a band of Black musicians stood up to racism and now they’ve been honored for that action. Bass player John Smith is the surviving ...
Who's Gonna Take Care Of Maw Maw?
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re an aging nation. Today 16% of Americans are over 65. In the next few decades that will double as the youngest Baby Boomers move into old age....
The Dental Gap
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many West Virginians have trouble with their teeth. In fact, there’s a big gap between folks who can reliably access an affordable dentist and those...
Disconnected Youth: No Job, No School, No Plan
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 ‘disconne...
Stay or Go?
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
West Virginia has trouble keeping people. In the past decade the state has lost more than 3 percent of its population. There were more deaths in the s...
When Will We Trust Again?
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our country is seeing a new flavor of partisanship. We practice a tribalism that’s so intense and personal, it defines much of our life. Who we cal...
Pocahontas County Contradiction — Sure, They Can Hear Mars, But Dependable Broadband Seems Like A Galaxy Away
11 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic has taught us the value of the internet; for work, school, even to order the essentials of life. The past year has also exposed the bruta...
We've Lost & We've Learned In The Year of COVID-19
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a year since the coronavirus started a global pandemic. A third of Americans now know someone who has died from COVID-19. The virus has fo...
Fatal Overdoses: Pandemic is Especially Deadly for West Virginians Battling Addictions
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID-19 vaccine continues to roll out but there’s no obvious fix for other long term medical consequences of the pandemic. A recent report from...
COVID-19 Exposes Racial Inequities
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 numbers show the pandemic has hit Black and Brown people hard. The coronavirus is about three times more likely to put African-American and L...
Grandfamilies and the Pandemic
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Older people are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. That’s a challenge when people in their 60s, 70s and 80s are full time caretakers for grandkids. T...
Clarity on COVID-19
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been nearly a year since COVID-19 came into our lives. It’s changed everything and forced all of us to stop and reconsider how we live day ...
Us & Them: Shelter From The Virus
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus has changed everything. People around the globe have spent nearly a year sheltering at home, adhering to restrictions and requirements...
Kingwood March Exposed a Raw Seam of Rage
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
2020 presented new levels of outrage over police killings of Black and Brown people in this nation. Police killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor whic...
Sink or Swim
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
2020 has required a lot from us all. It’s been a year of challenge and adaptation. Us & Them host Trey Kay recalls the line in a holiday classic...
Forced Apart: Faith Tested
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This year has tested us in many ways. Restrictions and stay-at-home orders prevent people from sharing familiar traditions and worshiping together. So...
Dessert & Dialogue
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
2021 will offer us all some new beginnings. Political leaders take office with the prospect of a COVID vaccine on the horizon. However, millions of pe...
Forced Apart: Cornucopia of Change
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is a season when many people turn to family, friends and food. As we enter the end-of-the-year holidays, group celebrations are discouraged to re...
Forced Apart: Can Our Economy Rebound Without Reliable, Safe Child Care?
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus has divided the world’s workforce into some new categories. White collar workers are remote employees who can do their jobs from hom...
Us & Them: Let Us 'Bind Up The Nation's Wounds'
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The 2020 presidential election has offered a host of unexpected twists and turns. The candidate’s varied approaches to campaigning during a pandem...
Breaking Bread, Talking Politics
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Keep politics away from the dinner table! This year’s contentious campaign season offers fresh reasons for that advice. But Us & Them host Trey ...
Us & Them: Working Man vs. The Political Machine
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The 2020 political campaigns are in high gear and the elections are just weeks away. This year, one West Virginia man watches from the sidelines, know...
Forced Apart: An Ailing Economy -- Is Workforce Training The Cure?
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus has created an economic nightmare. About a million jobs have disappeared in six months and more layoffs are likely this fall. In West ...
Can a White Supremacist Alter Her DNA of Hate?
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Black and Brown people in America continue to die at the hands of police officers and that's created a season of hate. George Floyd’s killing ignite...
Forced Apart: The 'Delicate and Crazy Dance' of American Health Care
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus confronts every aspect of our society - with our health care systems front and center in the crosshairs. When hospitals canceled nones...
The Vaccination Divide
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The race is on to develop a vaccination that can bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Researchers around the world are working on an immunization...
Recovery and Resiliency in Kermit
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At the peak of the opioid crisis, drug companies sent 12 million hydrocodone pills to Kermit, West Virginia - a town of about 350 people. Cars would l...
Forced Apart: Quarantine and the Danger of Eating Disorders
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 forces big changes in our society and for our medical systems. When patients with mental health conditions are forced to stay at home isolate...
Us & Them: Abortion Divides
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal wing of the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a Louisiana abortion law. The narrow decision may be a...
Forced Apart: Shadow Pandemic
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 has forced millions to stay at home for months. Isolation can feed anxiety and depression and now tens of millions of Americans say that pote...
The Black Talk
19 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Much of the recent work of our Us & Them team has focused on our day-to-day experience as we live through a global pandemic. But we need to shine ...
COVID-19 Takes A Toll On Our Food Supply
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus highlights many of our vulnerabilities, including the system we use to get food from the farm to the table. Lately, the pandemic has...
Coronavirus Czar Says Pandemic is a Stress Test for WV Health Care
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s about 10 weeks since the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country, including West Virginia. While state officials are now reopening b...
Forced Apart: Same Pandemic, Unequal Education
28 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
West Virginia’s 2020 school year, from kindergarten through college, is wrapping up unlike any other. In recent years, Mountain State communities ...
The Legacy of the Upper Big Branch Disaster
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, the Upper Big Branch Mine exploded in West Virginia. 29 men died and an investigation uncovered that a legacy of overlooked safety meas...
Nurse Eva Travels to a COVID-19 Front Line
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus pandemic prompts many reactions from people. Some people can be overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. Others step up to help where they c...
Forced Apart: A Virus Creates New Divides
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A global public health crisis in the form of an invisible virus, now officially divides us from each other. We’ve learned to call it ‘social dista...
The Connector
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In many cities and towns, there are people in charge, and there are people who get things done. Joe Slack is an instigator for community change in Wes...
Upriver Battle: Two Mayors Join Forces to Revive Their Rural Small Towns Against All Odds
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Appalachia is a unique region of the country. Its namesake mountain range boasts a tangle of thick forests where the economy has relied on forestry, m...
Without A Home Can You Be A Good Neighbor?
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Homelessness is one of the things that divides us in America. It’s an Us & Them issue that can spring from, and inform our views on other social...
Grandfamilies of the Opioid Crisis
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chemical addictions and the opioid crisis have divided millions of U.S. families. An addicted parent can abandon responsibilities to their children. W...
Diversity Divide
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are now more students of color at some universities and colleges in the U.S. In the past decade at Western Illinois University, the non-white st...
Should History Be Set In Stone?
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When we learn our history, we see things that reflect our past. Paintings of famous battles and statues of men who were heroes to some. But how we int...
Indian Country Relocation: A One-way Ticket to Poverty
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
North America’s early experiences with Us & Them come from our history with indigineous people. In the 19th century, a nascent U.S. government u...
Music with a Message
26 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Music can entertain and inspire, and it can be a path into another person’s world. On this episode, two different musicians with roots in Appalachia...
We The Purple
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Democracy may need a reboot, or a kickstart. Pick your favorite term, but the fact is, our system of government requires our participation. When we lo...
Us & Them: Abortion Divides
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Do you disagree with any of your close friends or family members about abortion? When’s the last time you actually talked about it? For many of us, ...
The Bond Buster Says ‘No’ to Public Schools
06 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Paying taxes is one of those things we just can’t avoid… except for the local tax measures we get to vote on. One of the best examples is school s...
Three Tales of Coal
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, coal was king in West Virginia. It paid good wages, paid the bills for many local services through taxes, and kept small towns alive. But...
Losing It All: Natural Disasters and America’s Immigrant Worker
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We’re in the midst of the 2019 hurricane season, and people in the Bahamas are still digging out from Hurricane Dorian. In 2018 hurricane Florence h...
Us & Them Update: A Surprising Ending to Justice for James Means
05 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For the past three years, the Us & Them team has tracked the case of James Means since the 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by 62-year-old Will...
Faith in Science
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Science and faith can offer a different perspective of the world... of life... and of what we believe. When you mix in a third ingredient - politics -...
Update: Killer of James Means Changes His Mind…Again.
21 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Us & Them team has tracked the case of James Means — a 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed in Charleston, WV by William Pulliam back in ...
Update: Farm Wars
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Last spring, we put out an episode called “Farm Wars.” It was about Arkansas farmers' never-ending battles with “pigweed” or as some call it “...
Update: Killer of James Means Seeks to Revoke Plea
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly three years, the Us & Them team has tracked the case of James Means - a 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed in Charleston, WV, by W...
What, Us Worry?: Life After MAD
09 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
MAD Magazine, once the touchstone of American satire and snark, is winding down its publication after 67 years. Trey says, as a kid, MAD’s adolescen...
Update: Justice for James Means
07 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly three years, the Us & Them team has followed the James Means’ case - a 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed in Charleston, WV, b...
My Friend From Camp
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Two men, one a British citizen of Pakistani heritage, and the other a former housing police officer in the Boston area, were unlikely to meet, until ...
Immigrant ‘Concentration Camps’ on the Southern Border?
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
U.S. immigration policies are very much in the spotlight recently with reports on conditions at some of the southern border detention camps and fresh ...
Pride in the Mountain State
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
June is Gay Pride month across the U.S. and around the world. It’s a celebration of increased social acceptance and expanded legal rights. But as Tr...
Reckoning with Sexual Assault: Righting a Wrong
13 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Two college freshman spend a night together. There’s inexperience, miscommunication and things go wrong -- really wrong. One of them calls what happ...
Farm Wars
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a tough time to be a soybean farmer in the U.S. Soybeans are a $40 billion business in America, but crop prices plummeted last year because o...
Still Waiting For Justice
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Two and a half years ago, an African-American teen named James Means was shot and killed in Charleston, WV. An older white man, William Pullman faces ...
Waiting for Justice
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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. Th...
Opioid Recovery in Appalachia's Ground Zero
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
America has a drug addiction crisis. Recovery could take decades. Opioid addiction has hit Appalachia harder than any region in the nation. This episo...
States Look to Appalachia for Vaccination Laws
29 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Measles cases have spiked in the first quarter of 2019 with outbreaks in ten states. Vaccinations prevent many communicable diseases, but measles is b...
Reconnecting With Femme Voice
13 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the winter of 2016, we told the story of Anne Kelly Skinner, a Charleston, WV lawyer, who was transitioning from male to female. As Anne's body be...
Scarlet Letters and Second Chances
27 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As a West Virginia teenager, Amber Miller dropped out of school, took drugs and robbed homes. She wound up on the wrong side of the law and served tim...
Black Talk
13 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How old were you when you first learned that police may think of you as a threat? You’ve never been told that? Chances are you’re not African Am...
Cave Men, The Patriarchy & Fairytales
30 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, men have been seen as the dominant gender. Why is this? Some assume the model goes all the way back to the primitive cave man. Oth...
My Friend From Camp
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Moazzam Begg, a British citizen of Pakistani heritage, and Albert Melise, a former housing police officer in the Boston area, were unlikely to have th...
War on Christmas…Really? 2018
18 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s that time of year again, when Trey’s Twitter and Facebook feeds flare up with posts about a “War on Christmas.” Every year there’s hubb...
Culture Clash: Back to the Border
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Back in the 1990s, Trey got into Culture Clash, a trio of Latino comedians who do social satire. He loved that they skewered public figures and poke s...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.10 -- Origins of the Epidemic
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. A lot of those deaths -- about three-fourths -- were caused by opioid medication prescribed by ...
The Great Textbook War
21 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1974, a fierce controversy erupted over some newly adopted school textbooks in Kanawha County, West Virginia. School buildings were hit by dynamite...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.9 -- Make applebutter, not war
21 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Election season’s over, but we sure haven’t put politics behind us. Not with the holidays approaching. Some families avoid talking politics over t...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.8 -- The Media
16 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Political debate in this country has become anything but civil. Who do you blame? Nearly a third of Americans surveyed by NPR blamed “the media.” ...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.7 -- Two Views
09 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The midterm election results seem to deliver conflicting messages depending on where you live. In California, candidates were rewarded for opposing Pr...
Reading Wars
07 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers say science makes it clear that there's a direct, systematic way we should be teaching kids to read. But lots of people discount the scien...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.6 -- Deana & Linda
02 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When we cast a ballot, it's personal. About as personal as it gets. That’s easy to forget when we talk about big blocks of voters, like congression...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.5 -- Immigration
26 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The migrant caravan moving through Mexico is nowhere near the U.S. border, but it's smack dab in the middle of the nation’s politics. As we draw nea...
"Steve"
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in the last 2 years, 2 million people misused prescription opioids for the first time. “Ste...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.4 -- Coal: Hero or Villain?
19 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the past, President Trump has called climate change a hoax. Then this week, Trump told 60 Minutes that he believes the climate is changing — but ...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.3 -- Why is Joe Manchin a Democrat?
12 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. Manchin was the only Democra...
Rural Voters: You Can't Ignore Us
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why did rural Americans love Donald Trump so much in 2016? Some say they’ve felt left out of the economic recovery. Others say the culture is changi...
EXTRA: Red State Blue State, Ep.2 -- The future of the Supreme Court
05 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There have been times time when the U.S. Supreme Court seemed to be apart from the partisanship that’s infected other government institutions. But P...