Trey Kay, Todd Melby Published

Us & Them: To Friend Or Unfriend? That Is The Question

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Many Americans are getting good at ignoring friends and relatives who disagree with them. Roughly four in ten registered voters say they don’t have a close friend who supports the opposing party’s candidate, according to a Pew Research study. 

Think how often you’re tempted to unfriend someone on social media. However, some lifelong friendships seem to beat those odds and the people in them say it enhances their understanding of the world. 

On this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay hears two childhood friends from Ohio explain how their connection reminds them how much they have in common. They do that, despite agreeing to disagree on some pretty important things along the way. They do it, in the name of their friendship.

Support this Reporting

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

A man sits in his chair wearing a checkered shirt and khaki slacks. He wears glasses. A computer and an American flag is in the background.
Brian Griffin and Us & Them host Trey Kay have been friends since their days at Ohio University back in the early 1980s. These days Griffin is the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council.

Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A woman leans against a wooden picnic table. She has long brown hair and wears glasses. She is barefoot wearing blue jeans and a grey shirt.
Lynn Angell has lived in Gallipolis, OH all of her life. She is a CPA and the owner of Angell Accounting, where she works barefooted as she prepares more than 3,000 tax returns each year. When she’s not crunching numbers, she raises sheep at her farm just outside of town. She also serves on the Gallia County Board of Education and is an executive member of the Republican Central Committee. Angell has known Brian Griffin since their high school days. They don’t see eye-to-eye on politics or the direction of the nation, but they are committed to their friendship and respectfully hearing each other out.

Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A black and white senior yearbook image of a smiling boy.
Brian Griffin as senior in Gallia Academy High School’s Class of 1978.

Credit: Gallia Academy High School Yearbook
A black and white senior yearbook photo of a girl wearing glasses.
Lynn Smith Angell as senior in Gallia Academy High School’s Class of 1978.

Credit: Gallia Academy High School Yearbook

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