West Virginia’s vaccination requirements for school children are what a lot of health experts call the gold standard. Only a medical exemption will get you out of school vaccine requirements. On this episode of Us & Them we look at a recent legislative proposal that would have changed that. It would have exempted homeschooled kids from vaccinations and let private and parochial schools set their own standards. The bill came from some parents who want relief from what they call the state’s oppressive compulsory vaccination laws. While the bill passed through the legislature, it did not become law after Gov. Jim Justice vetoed the measure. We’ll find out about this latest chapter in a state with one of the nation’s most robust vaccine histories.

In the aftermath of Election Day 2024, Us & Them host Trey Kay reflects on the increasingly divided American landscape and how the tone of political campaigns has changed since 2016. In this special episode, he recounts the heightened polarization marked by unprecedented events like two assassination attempts and a last-minute nominee switch. Kay considers the "us versus them" rhetoric that defined Donald Trump’s campaign and what his victory could mean for American unity. Drawing on past experiences, Kay considers how Us & Them’s aim of bridging divides by fostering empathy and understanding might continue during a second Trump administration.

The 2024 Presidential election season continues to be a rollercoaster of unpredictable actions, reactions and events. It seems each week brings big political headlines. Political campaigns have always had some rough edges, but now, candidates routinely call each other names and some frequently perpetuate outright lies in their speeches and at their rallies. That’s a challenge for many voters, including some of the youngest. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay travels to Marshall University to talk with a new generation of voters. Many Generation Z voters, from 18 to 27 years old, want to get involved. At a recent Us & Them event, they talked about their role in our democratic process, and about the frustrations that the required compromises can create.

We love our sports in America. From little league to professional competition, athletic teams can bring us together. However sports can also spotlight some of our most pointed social, culture and racial debates. Mascot names drive a wedge between fans. Some athletes choose to display their opinions about political candidates or police violence. In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the intersection of race and sports. Lawsuits over youth football in West Virginia have highlighted questions between teams and leagues over who’s allowed to play and whether young Black and brown athletes face discrimination. While some parents accuse the youth leagues of foul play, the leagues say some parents are simply not following the rules.

Us & Them host Trey Kay invites us all back for a new dinner party episode bringing together a wide-ranging group of people for food and conversation. Kay has used this gathering as a forum to break bread with folks who hold vastly different beliefs. The topics are varied… trust in elections - campus carry and gun rights - party conventions and candidate debates - and Joe Manchin’s legacy. We began this tradition in 2020 and have continued it ever since. While election season can make it difficult to come together with people who disagree, each of Kay’s guests offers a fresh perspective and shares their reactions to some of the biggest stories of the year that are shaping this election season.

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 Things,” says the freewheeling format “guarantees that we will get three unique approaches to the task from all of our guests.” It also allows the public a unique and barrier-breaking glimpse into the lives of people they may think they already know. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay shares a part of his story you might not know about, as does Valicia Leary, executive director of the Children’s Therapy Clinic, and Maurice Cohn, music director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

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 ballot box. History often helps provide context, so Kay talks with two historians about our right to vote and access to the ballot box. We look back at just what the Constitution and America’s Founding Fathers intended for our elections. As we dive into the history of voting rights, we learn that concept wasn’t really at the heart of things during the birth of the nation. Actually, in the beginning, voting was a privilege for only a few people in the very new nation that would become the United States.

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 Workforce.” It brought together workforce and criminal justice leaders to make a case that ex-offenders can be part of the state’s economic growth strategy, if they’re given the support needed to overcome barriers like stigma, mental health and substance use disorders, and a lack of transportation and housing. Organizers sought to address employers’ concerns about hiring the formerly incarcerated, advocate for expanded reentry programs, and offer hope to those recently released that they can find stable jobs.