Us & Them

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 first-degree murder charges. The trial was scheduled

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. The case made national headlines. Reports say during his confession, Pulliam told police, “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off of the street.”

Trey has met with lawyers and others grieving such a loss.  Multiple delays have pushed back Pulliam’s trial. One delay was to assess Pulliam’s mental competency, a move the Means’ family just doesn’t understand. In December 2018, Pulliam was finally declared mentally competent, and his trial is scheduled to start in early May 2019.

With so many delays, the Means family, has little confidence in the legal system.  As the trial date approaches, they’re waiting for justice.

America has a drug addiction crisis. Recovery could take decades. Opioid addiction has hit

Measles cases have spiked in the first quarter of 2019 with

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 became less dude-like and more womanly, she was pleased. However, she worried her voice wouldn’t match her new body. There are many physical challenges for transgender people, one that doesn't get a lot of attention is how a trans woman learns to sound like a woman. If a woman sounds like a guy, can she truly feel like a woman? We revisit Anne, three years later, to find out how she’s doing and if she has found what she calls, her femme voice.

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 time for a felony. In a youth correction center, she turned her life around, but after her release, had trouble finding a job to support her two sons. Like 8% of Americans with felony conviction, Amber had to “check the box” on job applications admitting to her criminal past. The felony on her record was like a ‘scarlet letter’ and most employers were reluctant to hire her. Amber was committed to change, but was society willing to give her a second chance? Trey speaks with Amber and West Virginia politicians about the state’s plans for helping felons get back into the workforce.

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 American. In this episode, Trey Kay examines “The Black Talk,” which is the sober conversation that many black families have with their teenage kids – particularly teenage boys – about how they should conduct themselves when stopped by the police.

Spoiler alert: Black parents, like any parent, want their kids to come home alive.

We’ll also learn from a chapter of Charleston, West Virginia’s Civil Rights legacy from a minister mentored by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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. Others believe the gender pecking order was commanded by God. In this episode, Trey speaks with John Biewen and Celeste Headlee about their “Men” series for the "Scene On Radio" podcast. In this episode we dive deep into how, when and why men invented the patriarchy, and how it hurts everyone.

Moazzam Begg, a British citizen of Pakistani heritage, and Albert Melise, a former housing police officer in the Boston area, were unlikely to have their life stories intersect and become friends; but then September 11 happened.

After the Bush Administration launched the War on Terror, Begg was detained and held at the U.S. Detention Camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Melise was a Gitmo guard. You can’t get much more Us & Them than that.

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 hubbub over how saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” is TOO politically correct, or that a nativity scene doesn't belong on government property. Christmas traditionalists feel there’s an attack on this sacred holiday, while secularists seem bothered that this religious holiday has a privileged place in a country known for its separation of church and state. For this (mostly fun) episode, Trey and historian Adam Laats ponder the nature of this so-called “war.”