Samantha Gattsek

For this episode, the Us & Them team and USC's Civic Imagination Project head to the economically challenged Upper Kanawha Valley to hear people from diverse backgrounds consider what their future could look like.

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.

While the rest of the country is experiencing sharp declines in the number of 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?

This Us & Them episode, which was recently honored with a 2021 National Edward R. Murrow award, examines: How can society support grandparents who are raising the children of their drug-addicted children?

Us & Them host Trey Kay asks students from his alma mater George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia, if they can envision their future in their home state. He also speaks with West Virginia native and former Intuit CEO Brad Smith who’s trying to transform the Mountain State into the “Start-up State.”

Us & Them host Trey Kay speaks with West Virginian grandparents about the challenges of raising grandchildren during COVID-19. He also talks with Bonnie Dunn, director of West Virginian State University’s “Healthy Grandfamilies” program and Ana Beltran, co-director of National Center on Grandfamilies.

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.Listen Thursday, Nov 26 at 8 PM on WVPB Radio

In this episode, we explore how chemical addictions and the opioid crisis have divided millions of U.S. families. An addicted parent can abandon responsibilities for their children, and when a grandparent steps in, it creates a new kind of family structure some call a grandfamily. It’s a generational divide.