Red State, Blue State

Red State, Blue State

If you really listen, we sound like two different countries: Red America and Blue America. Then again, most of us are NOT listening. Heading into the midterms KCRW and WVPB are teaming up to try to change that. “Red State, Blue State” is a weekly conversation between Californians and West Virginians about the issues that divide us.

America feels more divided than ever. But the majority of the electorate is actually united on something: they are tuning out from political debates.

72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year. A lot of that was from opiates. What started small has become almost unimaginably large.

Can your cousin with the Bernie Sanders bumper sticker and your uncle with the right-wing conspiracy theories get along during the holidays?

Newsrooms have seen threats, suspicious packages, even shootings. Can they win back trust?

California used to be red. West Virginia used to be blue. We look at the political history of both states.

The issues motivating voters in this election are wide-ranging and personal. It’s easy to forget that when we spend so much time talking about the horse race.

Republicans campaigned on a common theme this week: stopping that migrant caravan from Honduras. Why is fear of illegal immigration now a key midterm message?

People in California want to know: "Do West Virginians really believe that coal is coming back?"