This audio file contains three excerpts from Us & Them's "Forced Apart" series: "A Virus Creates New Divides," "Same Pandemic, Unequal Education" and "Shadow Pandemic."  This work sample was created for the purposes of submission to the Associated Press judges for award consideration.

Series Description:

A global public health crisis in the form of an invisible virus, now officially divides us from each other. We’ve learned to call it ‘social distancing.’ But the coronavirus is creating or reopening many layers between us and them.

There are divides between workers: some must show up while others work virtually and millions more have lost their jobs as businesses shutter and the economy grinds to a halt. Families see divides as they decide how many generations can safely live under the same roof. And the government creates divisions as national, state and local leaders have different responses to the pandemic. There are also divisions in how children are educated and how people receive mental healthcare.

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Americans' attitudes toward gay relationships have changed dramatically in a short time. Host Trey Kay returns to his home state of West Virginia to see how this change is playing out in a state where 53 percent of residents believe the Bible is the literal word of God. 

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Revisiting The Grand Palace

Decades before same-sex marriage was legal, the Rev. Jim Lewis of Charleston, West Virginia, sparked outrage by blessing the unions of gay men and lesbians in his church.

Rev. Jim Lewis - Marrying Gays When It Wasn't Cool

A blue state secular liberal and a red state conservative Christian have an unlikely friendship. And a slug burger.

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Trey & Alice

In 1974, Kanawha County, West Virginia became an early battleground in the culture wars when fighting broke out over new school textbooks. People planted bombs in schools, shot at buses, and shut down coal mines. This radio documentary was honored with Peabody, Murrow and DuPont/Columbia awards.

The Great Textbook War

If you give money to panhandlers, are you helping them or hurting them? And do they really need help? People have strong opinions. We try to separate the facts from the ideology.

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To Give or Not To Give

Despite all the fuss about sex education in America, students get precious little of it.  Jonathan Zimmerman, an education historian, tells Trey how Americans spend more time arguing about what kids should learn about human sexuality in schools than they actually do teaching anything about it.

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The Talk

The chair of the University of Minnesota's program for Sexual Health Education tells Trey most sexual health instruction focuses on adolescents and that maybe adults might also need some instruction.

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Sex Ed For Grown - Ups

The Condederate flag and the song "Dixie" -- two enduring Old South icons that make us wonder if the war ever ended. 

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In Dixieland I'll Take My Stand

Two men with strong opinions about evolution and climate change are willing to lay their money on the line.

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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

The Supreme Court says you can’t have organized prayer in public schools. But most Americans don’t agree with that call — and some people are still finding ways to make sure public school children have a chance to hear about God.

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The Church Lady

With acts of terrorism in Paris and San Bernardino, some Americans are suspicious of Muslim neighbors and immigrants. Warranted fear or paranoia?

Islamophobia

Not that long ago, you could get locked up for being gay. A West Virginia man tells Trey about being sent to a mental institution for violating sodomy laws. Standing in front of the historic Stonewall Inn in NYC’s Greenwich Village, gay activist Brendan Fay tells Trey how things have changed over the past five decades for LGBT people in America and around the world.

Sodomy, Stonewall & Pride

Everyone knows the song. People who don’t consider themselves spiritual or religious find it meaningful. John Newton penned the hymn to connect with Christians, but it has transcended that and become a folk song and an anthem for civil rights. The origins of the song are complicated -- Newton was a slave trader who did not renounce slavery until long after he wrote it.

Amazing Grace

Deanna McKinney’s been through one of the hardest things a parent can endure. Her teenage son was gunned down on her front porch by a kid looking to join a gang. Now she’s making meaning out of the tragedy by working to ensure a better community for the daughter her son left behind.

Deanna, Tymel & Amarie

When conservatives and liberals fight about school curriculum, the disagreements aren’t just about science and history. Even math has been a battleground in the culture wars. Also, Common Core was a hot button issue during the 2016 Presidential Campaign. Have you heard much about it lately?

Remembering New Math & Common Core

The tragedy in Charlottesville, VA makes us wonder if it’s possible to reconcile different versions of history. This episode features two American foreign correspondents of color who’ve sought to answer this quandary. They fly from Kenya to New Orleans to report on the angry protests over the dismantling of Confederate monuments.

Confederate Reckoning: When Will The Civil War End?

Americans tend to sort themselves into tribes that share similar culture, ideas and values. Trey recalls kids at his West Virginia high school sorting themselves into different camps and how one dressed was a defining factor, right down to the shoes.

Hillers & Creekers

Like many from his state, Trey was weaned on the jingle “Coal is West Virginia!”  For this episode, we meet two West Virginians who see the mining industry in completely different ways: one who believes coal is the lifeblood of the state's workers; the other who argues coal is to blame for keeping West Virginians poor.

Two Tales of Coal

Selections of Trey Kay on the program Us & Them

WBEZ Host Audition Demo

“Forced Apart” focuses on an invisible virus dividing us from one another. Installment 1: Adaptations early in the COVID Era. Installment 2: Educators create essential remote learning systems while broadband connectivity favors “haves” over “have nots.”  Installment 3: COVID restrictions fuel isolation, anxiety and depression. For West Virginians with substance addiction problems, this is a potent threat to their sobriety and mental health.

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We tell stories from the fault lines that separate Americans. Peabody Award-winning public radio producer Trey Kay listens to both sides of the divide. 

Us & Them Podcast

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