Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, Samson appears in the Book of Judges as a man set apart from birth and given extraordinary strength. Known for the story of Samson and Delilah, he became one of the most recognizable figures in the Bible, though his life was marked by far more than that single moment. Gifted with power yet driven by impulse, Samson’s story moves toward an ending that...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Hiram Stevens Maxim is best known as the inventor of the Maxim machine gun, one of the first fully automatic weapons. But later in life, he made a surprising and controversial claim: that he, not Thomas Edison, had invented the light bulb. According to Maxim, his work with electric lighting predated Edison’s breakthroughs, raising questions about who...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when 10cc set out to record “I’m Not in Love,” they were working from an idea that ran against the kind of love songs filling the radio at the time. By the time it was finished, the song no longer resembled the version they had started with, and it didn’t fit neatly alongside the music around it either. It found its audience anyway,...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Burt Young grew up in Queens, the son of a working-class family, and spent his early years far from the world of film. He boxed professionally, served in the Marine Corps, and worked a series of jobs before ever thinking about acting. That changed when he began studying under Lee Strasberg and started to take the craft seriously. Not long after, he came acr...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Leslie Leyland Fields grew up with a father who could not give his children the care or attention they needed. His absence shaped her childhood and left a distance between them that only grew as the years passed. When he suffered a stroke late in life, Fields made the decision to travel from Alaska to Florida to see him after decades of distance. Leslie sha...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1976, a British wine merchant named Steven Spurrier organized a small wine tasting in Paris that most assumed would confirm what everyone already believed: French wines were simply the best. That changed when a group of unknown American winemakers went head-to-head with the best of France and won. In what later became known as the Judgment of Paris, some...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Pastor Scott Jones, a regular contributor to  Our American Stories  and the author of  Growing Up Rural , shares the story of one of the most embarrassing moments of his childhood—the time he forgot to clean hog manure off his boots after finishing his early morning chores on his family farm in Iowa, causing quite a stink in his classro...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Robert E. Lee remains one of the most debated figures in American history, remembered as a leading general of the Confederate Army and a central figure in the Civil War. Long before Appomattox Court House and the surrender that ended the war for Lee’s army, Robert Edward Lee had lived a life shaped by intense family pressure and an unwavering ambition...

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Little Debbie snacks became a staple in grocery stores, there was a young couple trying to recover from financial loss during the Great Depression. O.D. and Ruth McKee started small, selling cakes from a car and slowly building a business that would eventually become the powerhouse we know today. Simon Whistler of the  Today I Found Out &nb...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Las Vegas built its identity on spectacle, and few places capture that history quite like the Neon Museum. Tucked just off the Strip, it brings together the glowing signs that once defined the city and preserves them as part of its living story. Aaron Berger shares how the museum grew from a simple idea into one of the most distinctive Las Vegas landmarks....

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jay Van Andel, co-founder of Amway, built one of the most successful businesses in American history. But at home, his greatest lessons weren’t about business, they were about family, discipline, and faith. Each night at the dinner table, Jay and his wife Betty made time to teach their children through real-life experiences, sharing the challenges of b...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in September 1986, Cleveland set out to break a world record with Balloonfest ’86, a mass balloon release staged in the heart of downtown. Organizers planned to send nearly two million helium balloons into the air as both a fundraising stunt and a civic spectacle, making it one of the most ambitious public events of the decade. Instead, shifting weath...

On this episode of Our American Stories, before the Declaration of Independence was signed, Joseph Warren was already at the center of the resistance in Boston. A physician by trade, he became a political writer, an organizer, and a trusted figure among the patriots, and one of the few men who signed the Declaration with his own blood. Historian Jeffrey McKenna, author of  Saving Dr. Warren:...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jesse Brown had already made history as the first Black pilot in U.S. naval aviation. His service in the Korean War would come to define how he is remembered. After his plane went down behind enemy lines, fellow pilot Tom Hudner made a decision that would follow both men for the rest of their lives. Brown’s granddaughter, Jessica Leroyce Knight Henry,...

On this episode of Our American Stories, eating disorder recovery rarely moves in a straight line, and Randi Wilson’s story makes that clear. After developing an eating disorder as a young woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, she went through hospitalization, residential treatment, and years of working to rebuild a healthy relationship with her body. Wilson shares how that process carried int...

On this episode of Our American Stories, as George Washington prepared to step down as president in 1796, the United States was already showing signs of bitter political division among those who had fought for American independence. In his Farewell Address, he focused on the growing influence of political parties and what that shift could mean for the future of the country. As part of our ongoing&...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Ron Brown grew up in Chicago and lost contact with his father at a young age. Over time, the absence became permanent, and he eventually came to believe his father had died. But after Ron appeared on  Family Feud  and introduced himself on air, his father, who was still alive and watching, recognized him. He followed the details shared during the...

On this episode of Our American Stories, at a funeral home in Iowa, a number of urns had gone unclaimed for years, with no clear path back to family. Lanae Strovers was asked to try to track someone down, but many of the names led nowhere or to people who could not take them. Instead of leaving them there, she arranged the burials herself and made sure each person was treated with care. Here&rsquo...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jackie Robinson didn’t plan to make history. He only wanted to play ball. But in a country that had barred Black baseball players for more than sixty years, that simple dream came with impossible expectations. After a short stint in the Negro Leagues in Kansas City, he became the first to cross into the majors, carrying not only a bat but the burden o...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in May 1862, Robert Smalls carried out a daring escape from slavery in Charleston Harbor. Forced to work aboard the Confederate ship Planter , he learned its routes and the signals required to pass the harbor’s defenses. When the officers left the ship one night, Smalls stepped into their place and guided the vessel past Confederate guns toward the Un...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Dennis Peterson, our regular contributor from South Carolina, reflects on his grandmother and the role grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren, remembering a set of hands that carried the weight of a family and offered comfort when it mattered most, even while dealing with painful arthritis. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.co...

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the Muppets became a part of American television, Jim Henson was experimenting with a camera and a homemade puppet that would eventually become Kermit the Frog. He saw something others missed: a way to use television to give a puppet a sense of life. As his work found its way onto more screens, the Muppets became a familiar part of life across t...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in November 1863, Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just months after one of the bloodiest battles in American history. What he saw there, the devastation, the loss, and the sacrifice, would shape the words he was about to deliver. At just 269 words, the Gettysburg Address would go on to become one of the most famous speeches in history....

On this episode of Our American Stories, before Devon Westhill became the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he learned the meaning of perseverance from the woman who raised him. His mother faced poverty, long hours, and the weight of raising a family on her own in rural Florida. Yet through every setback, she refused to let her children see defeat. Her sto...

On this episode of Our American Stories, the week of April 1865 brought both the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. At Ford’s Theatre on Good Friday, a senior Washington police superintendent, largely forgotten to history, named A.C. Richards witnessed John Wilkes Booth enter the presidential box and fire the shot that would kill the nation’s leader. Ford&rs...