Every week across the U.S. more than two newspapers go out of business. In the past two decades more than 3,000 papers have shut down operations. That’s left more than 1,500 counties so-called news deserts. Forty-three of West Virginia’s 55 counties have just one local news source and that limited access gives the state a ranking of 46th out of all 50 states. Studies show when local news sources vanish, the result is a drop in community participation on many levels. On the next episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay visits some regional news deserts to talk about the way local news organizations help a community see and define itself. Some say local coverage is the glue that brings a place together and in Putnam County the Hurricane Breeze continues to offer essential local news while in Greenbrier County, a startup is working to bring back that voice. 

The perception of crime in our nation shows an enormous divide. One recent poll reports 90% of Republicans say crime is up while 60% of Democrats say crime is down. The result has been a wave of ‘tough on crime’ laws from states across the political spectrum that expand the definition of violent crimes and their penalties. The 2024 Safer Kentucky Act is one of those omnibus crime bills that some say casts too wide a net. 

In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the history of America’s crime laws to check on provisions that are back - like the so-called Three Strikes law that’s part of Kentucky’s crime bill. In the 1990s, they addressed violent drug crimes, however over the decades the costs of incarcerating more and more people became too big a burden.

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. Many local news outlets have gone out of business and there are now more than 200 counties across the country with no source of local news, communities often referred to as news deserts. One of those news deserts is McDowell County in West Virginia.  Last year, publisher Missy Nester was forced to shut down the Welch Daily News after a valiant effort to keep the paper running. Join host Trey Kay and reporter Todd Melby on this episode of Us & Them to see what happens when local news organizations stop telling the stories of a community.

This episode was recently honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary and by the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters for Best Documentary .

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling just out upholds a state ban on gender affirming care for transgender minors. The Tennessee case will likely bolster efforts by conservative state lawmakers to regulate care for transgender Americans. It’s the most recent effort in the culture war over gender identity and LGBTQ rights. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears about the fallout from this social and political battle for transgender people in West Virginia. Kay also talks with people shaping the debate over transgender rights. LGBTQ allies say the legal and legislative efforts deny trans people the right to declare their own gender identity, while some conservative policy makers say transgender women are erasing women’s rights; from privacy in the bathroom to athletic competition. The transgender population, estimated at less than one percent of America, is a social lightening rod of our culture wars. 

State borders are the new front lines in the nation’s abortion battle. On this encore 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 neighbor, Maryland, is one of 22 states that are protecting abortion rights and expanding access. Kay follows the decision of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia to move its abortion services from Charleston to a new clinic just over the border near Cumberland, Maryland. The move was intentional because Western Maryland, like West Virginia, is a so-called abortion desert. The two regions have some deep political and cultural similarities. Western Maryland Republicans say they feel ignored by the overwhelmingly liberal, Democratic legislature in Annapolis. They say the new abortion clinic is not wanted or needed in their part of Maryland, and they blame the clinic’s presence on the fallout from Roe v. Wade’s defeat. This Us & Them episode was recently honored by the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters as Best Podcast of 2024.

During his first months in office, President Donald Trump has issued about 150 executive orders and is taking action on the very issues he promised during the campaign. There’ve been dramatic changes in immigration in the form of mass deportations despite concerns over a lack of due process. The administration continues to make good on moves to cut the federal workforce, government agencies and a variety of government-funded organizations. And nearly every day there’s economic news about Trump’s reciprocal tariffs with countries around the world and the impact on the global economy. With all of this to digest, it’s time for another Us & Them dinner party as host Trey Kay brings together guests of varying political persuasions to share a potluck meal and their views on President Trump’s first 100 days in office. 

For this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay celebrates the tenth anniversary of the podcast with the young members of Marshall University’s Dead Podcasters Society, a club that is dedicated to artistic expression and following one’s passions, much like the fictional group in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society.  The event becomes a master class on podcasts, the intimate form of audio storytelling that has hooked hundreds of millions of listeners around the world. Kay talks with students about how he encourages people to tell him their stories and about a lifetime spent forming connections with people who hold views that are very different from his own. He also gets inducted into the Dead Podcasters Society in a ceremony that involves a sword and a vow to “seize the sound.”

For decades, polls have shown most Americans believe equal opportunity in the workplace is beneficial and laws like the 1964 Civil Rights Act worked to achieve that goal. More recently, the effort has included voluntary diversity, equity and inclusion programs - known as DEI. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at changing social and political sentiment that’s prompted efforts to dismantle the nation’s DEI programs. President Trump’s executive orders require government agencies and private businesses to stop the programs calling them illegal and immoral discrimination. State lawmakers are taking a cue from Washington and so far more than 30 states have considered or are looking at anti-DEI legislation, with half having already passed such laws. While some people say diversity programs provide positive societal change and are positive for a business’s bottom line, a growing percentage say the efforts are discriminatory practices that can lower employment standards and do not improve productivity or efficiency in the workplace. 

Reality is more challenging now for people who live at the intersection between substance use disorder, homelessness and the criminal justice system. New laws across the nation echo aspects of the 2024 Safer Kentucky Act, which enhance penalties for violent crimes, drug crimes, shoplifting and carjacking, as well as a ban on public camping. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay returns to Kentucky to check on the consequences of the new tough-on-crime law. In cities, the demand for longterm and transitional housing remains acute, while in small town Appalachia the access to any social safety net can be far, far away.