Host Trey Kay brings together the Us & Them dinner party guests once again, this time for a candid post-election review. The group, representing a wide range of personal and political perspectives, shares the table for a potluck meal just days after President-elect Donald Trump’s election. Some of Kay’s dinner party guests are enthusiastic about Trump’s policies and plans for a second term, while others don’t have much of an appetite and are fearful as they reflect on the outcome of the election and their expectations for the future. As in many American households, there are raw feelings and honest emotions as some of the issues behind the political and social divides in our country are exposed. It’s a dinner table at which not everyone has much of an appetite.

West Virginia’s vaccination requirements for school children are what a lot of health experts call the gold standard. Only a medical exemption will get you out of school vaccine requirements. On this episode of Us & Them we look at a recent legislative proposal that would have changed that. It would have exempted homeschooled kids from vaccinations and let private and parochial schools set their own standards. The bill came from some parents who want relief from what they call the state’s oppressive compulsory vaccination laws. While the bill passed through the legislature, it did not become law after Gov. Jim Justice vetoed the measure. We’ll find out about this latest chapter in a state with one of the nation’s most robust vaccine histories.

In the aftermath of Election Day 2024, Us & Them host Trey Kay reflects on the increasingly divided American landscape and how the tone of political campaigns has changed since 2016. In this special episode, he recounts the heightened polarization marked by unprecedented events like two assassination attempts and a last-minute nominee switch. Kay considers the "us versus them" rhetoric that defined Donald Trump’s campaign and what his victory could mean for American unity. Drawing on past experiences, Kay considers how Us & Them’s aim of bridging divides by fostering empathy and understanding might continue during a second Trump administration.