As we count down to the end of 2025, Us & Them host Trey Kay looks back at the year’s whirlwind of actions and reactions. Each week presented fresh moves in the agenda President Donald Trump outlined during his campaign. First it was a reshaping of the federal government from Elon Musk’s efficiency department, which slashed budgets and agencies and workers. At the same time, additional resources for the Department of Homeland Security means a significant increase in the number of immigration arrests and detentions by federal agents. The use of National Guard troops in U.S. cities tests the limits of the president’s authority while those in the Mountain State mourn the death of a soldier shot in the nation’s capitol. We look at how one-time culture war talking points are reengineering America's defining institutions.

We’re an aging nation. Today 16% of Americans are over 65. In the next few decades that will double as the youngest Baby Boomers move into old age. But in West Virginia, that future is now. It’s the third oldest state in the nation and more than 20% of its residents are over 65. At the same time, West Virginia’s birth rate is low because young people are leaving. That generational imbalance will increase in coming years. The numbers show a growing crisis. Senior care has shifted from a nursing home model to one focused on aging in place. The cost of care is lower the longer people stay in their homes. That’s led to an explosion in home-based support and care services. But now, those companies can’t find the workers they need to provide services for the growing elderly population.

America’s crime rates have prompted President Donald Trump to deploy federal agents and National Guard troops in a handful of major cities. On this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at what data and statistics can really tell us about the level of violence in our country. Crime continues to be one of the defining issues for the Trump administration, and the president refers to “out of control” crime numbers to deploy soldiers on city streets and support his actions while using federal agents to sweep up undocumented immigrants. However crime rates are inconsistently reported and the analysis is challenging. The administration points to its own actions as a reason for a recent drop in crime, but FBI data show major crime categories have been on the decline for the past two years. In fact a recent poll suggests Americans are less anxious about street crime and more fearful of online scams and school shootings.