The public health campaign to sell people on COVID-19 vaccinations is more than a year old, but its success is limited. The latest strain of the virus shows that unvaccinated people are significantly more likely to contract the omicron variant, resulting in higher rates of hospitalization and death. This reality raises a question - why are people refusing the shots? What’s gone wrong with the public health message? Early on the focus was on mass vaccinations, which convinced many millions of people. When the numbers stalled, it was time for incentives; get a shot, win a gift card or a car. In West Virginia, the campaign became, “Do it for Baby Dog,” using the governor’s English Bulldog as a mascot. But few of these efforts are swaying vaccine-resistant people. So, what will work? On the next Us & Them, we’ll hear why vaccination campaigns were successful in the past, and the approach many experts say we need to start trying.

We can document almost everything around us with devices of all kinds. But in 1970, there were few cameras around when police opened fire on crowds in Augusta, Georgia. A protest-turned-riot over the brutal murder of a Black teenager left six Black men dead from police bullets. But there was never justice for any of the deaths, including 16-year-old Charles Oatman in the Richmond County Jail. The story of that riot remains relatively unknown among Augusta residents both Black and white. Us & Them host Trey Kay talks with podcast producer Sea Stachura about her award-winning work, “Shots in the Back: Exhuming the 1970 Augusta Riot.” Historians call it one of the largest uprisings of the Civil Rights Era in the Deep South.  

A social movement has been gaining steam in the past decade as we’ve learned more about the way trauma can affect our physical and psychological health. A study more than twenty years ago, first came up with a way to assess the impact of childhood neglect, abuse and family dysfunction. Now, advocates are getting traction with “trauma-aware” campaigns and coalitions. School districts, communities, states and even countries are investing in trauma awareness, training and screening. Nearly half the kids under 18 in the U.S. have had an adverse experience or serious trauma. The original study concluded that the more traumas early in life… lead to poor health outcomes later on. That research got almost no attention when it was published in 1998 however today, its findings are considered ground-breaking. But some say using such a rubric to assess a person’s experience won’t work for everyone and may simply label and limit their future potential.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to prove just how interconnected the world is. Now, a new COVID strain called “omicron,” shows the potential downside of our global vaccination approach. As people in the U.S and Europe line up for booster shots, low vaccination rates in some countries allow the virus to mutate into new strains. ‘America first’ has been a consistent focus for the Biden administration’s vaccination campaign. Early in 2021, high income countries controlled nearly 60 percent of global vaccine doses, despite having just 16 percent of the world’s population. Millions of people around the world continue to wait for their first vaccination dose. COVID may prove the only way to defeat a virus is to provide equitable treatment around the world.

Masks and vaccines continue to trigger Us & Them divides across the nation. As statewide public health mandates have dwindled, public health choices increasingly fall to local government officials - city, county and school board leaders. Many say the mask and vaccination requirements they’ve imposed in the interests of public health, have put a target on their back. More than 80% report they’ve been harassed, threatened or experienced violence. Some are afraid to do their job and they say the aggressive resistance has a budgetary impact on cities required to enhance safety measures. Us & Them host Trey Kay travels to several southern states to hear from people about their decisions and the consequences.

Travel is an activity some people use as a classroom.  Leaving the familiar lets us learn about culture, history, the environment and many other topics. Recently, a small group spent six days traveling America’s southern states to learn about the country’s racial past and the impact of the Civil Rights movement today. This immersive tour took them across several states to places that have come to define periods in America’s racial history—from Charleston, South Carolina’s slave trade market to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. The group visited sites that put this country’s racist history on display, and Us & Them host Trey Kay was along to hear them reflect on our nation and themselves.

It’s another Thanksgiving with COVID-19, but this time, vaccinations allow many Americans to gather together and share a hug and a meal. Us & Them host Trey Kay invites his ‘virtual dinner party’ guests back for an anniversary. It’s a tradition we began last year - bringing together a wide ranging group to talk occasionally about the hot topics of the day. We talk politics and the 2020 election as well as the issues of election reform that continue to reverberate. COVID vaccinations and masks present some honest conversation. This year we’ll see what kind of common ground there is at the table. It seems the more  the dinner party guests talk with each other, the more they learn something  that can help  them see things more clearly and connect on different levels.

Us & Them host Trey Kay honors Veterans Day with a remarkable conversation with the last surviving World War ll U.S. Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor. Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams grew up as a farm kid in the Mountain State and enlisted in the Marine Corps just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served in the Pacific campaign and fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Williams received the Medal of Honor for fighting against enemy positions to open a lane for infantry soldiers. For four hours under heavy fire, he used a flamethrower against reinforced concrete pillbox defenses. After leaving active service, Williams created a foundation to honor the families of service people lost in battle and offer scholarships to the children of fallen soldiers. Williams, who is 98, says his goal is to ride a horse on his 100th birthday.

West Virginia is now the 42nd state to introduce public charter schools as an education choice for parents and students. A new state law allows the creation of ten charter schools over the next three years. That can include two virtual charter schools. A state authorizing board is reviewing seven applications that are required to follow the same rules and regulations that public schools do. But charters can offer more flexibility to adapt and adjust learning approaches. In some states like Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina and California more than 10 percent of students now attend charter schools. The educational reform movement got its start 30 years ago in Minnesota and in the past three decades, charters have created an us and them divide. Despite their popularity and expansion, some people oppose charter schools. They say charters drain students and resources from traditional public schools. When students attend a charter program, state funding moves with them. We’ll hear from students, parents, teachers and leaders about West Virginia’s decision to bring in charters - and a lawsuit that claims the plan is unconstitutional.

America is seen as a land of opportunities and education for all. But a group of young refugees in Pennsylvania had to challenge the local school district to access their schooling. Lancaster school officials first said the six refugees aged 17 to 21 were too old for public school programs. Only after a lawsuit and protracted negotiations, were the students placed in classes for English language learners. We track the story talking with Jo Napolitano the author of a new book, “The School I Deserve,” that follows the case; and a conversation with Khadidja Issa, one of the refugees who was willing to fight for her education.