Us & Them

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 speaks with West Virginia Circuit Court Judges Joanna Tabit and Gregory Howard and Sheila Vakharia, deputy director of the Department of Research and Academic Engagement at the Drug Policy Alliance. He asks: How do these treatment courts work for adults and juveniles?

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.

The landscape of abortion law is changing. On this episode of Us & Them, we consider what will happen in West Virginia in a 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-19 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. Sen. Joe Manchin may frustrate some in his own party, but his positions get him votes at home from registered Republicans. However, some say he’s not conservative enough to win re-election to his Senate seat in 2024. 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. This Us & Them episode was honored with an award from The Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters.

"Those Who Lack Good Oral Health Face Far More Than A Toothless Hillbilly Stereotype" — this episode was recently honored with a regional award from the Associated Press of the Virginias. The first place honor was for best documentary.

There are new laws in more than a dozen states — including West Virginia — that ban transgender girls and women from competing on girls and womens teams. Transgender athletes say they want to play a sport they love. Some who support 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.