Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, born in small-town Oklahoma in 1918, Paul Harvey grew up shaped by faith, rural life, and the tragic murder of his father, a police officer. From World War II to Watergate, from civil rights to the dawn of the digital age, Harvey spoke to America nearly every day for more than 70 years. Stephen Mansfield, author of Paul Harvey’s America , shares the r...

On this episode of Our American Stories, before his stories became classic Hollywood films, James Warner Bellah was writing pulp fiction about cavalry, frontier warfare, and American identity. His short stories and screenplays were later brought to the screen by John Ford and helped define the on-screen voice of John Wayne. But Bellah’s life was shaped not only by Hollywood. He also served d...

On this episode of Our American Stories, today, America runs on four time zones, but before the railroad era, thousands of towns kept their own local time based on the sun. As rail travel expanded in the 1800s, that system became dangerous and unworkable. Our own Greg Hengler shares the story of how railroad companies, not the federal government, created standardized time zones to keep trains runn...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Bill Bryk tells the remarkable story of Joshua Lionel Cowen, the inventive mind behind Lionel trains. Cowen began his career designing electrical devices and naval mine detonators before discovering that motion, electricity, and imagination could transform toys forever. His Lionel trains became a defining part of American childhood, outselling real locomoti...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Eric Motley, author of  Madison Park: A Place of Hope , shares how he was raised by a close-knit African American community in Montgomery, Alabama where storytelling, encouragement, and faith shaped a young boy’s life. In a place where many elders had been denied formal education, spoken words carried power, passing down dignity, purpose, and hop...

On this episode of Our American Stories, The American Revolution began before independence was declared and before most colonists were ready for a complete break from Britain. In our fifth installment of our ongoing  Story of America  series , Bill McClay, author of  Land of Hope , explains how the fighting at Lexington and Concord shocked a deeply divided America, and how Thomas Pa...

On this episode of Our American Stories, every Sunday,  Our American Stories  host Lee Habeeb speaks with Mitchel "Big Mitch" Rutledge, who has spent more than forty years serving a life sentence in Alabama. Each call traces the shape of faith, regret, and forgiveness inside a place built for punishment. When Mitch first entered prison, he couldn't read or write. He had dropped out of sc...

On this episode of Our American Stories, for most of his life, James Armistead Lafayette was known simply as James—not Lafayette. That last name came later, and from none other than the Marquis de Lafayette of the American Revolution. But why would an enslaved man take the last name of a French military officer? Here's Kirk Higgins of the Bill of Rights Institute  with the story of one...

On this episode of Our American Stories, they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—but Appleton Oaksmith landed on another planet. His mother was a feminist who knew top abolitionists; his father, a cartoonist admired across party lines. Appleton? He was hunted internationally for presumed slave trading and a failed kidnapping in Cuba that may have threatened Lincoln’s re...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Megan Bayer shares her touching letter of gratitude and healing to her constant companion through a struggle they will never forget. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, in Victorian America, makeup was taboo. Respectable women didn’t enhance their eyes—unless they were silent film stars or prostitutes. That changed with one family experiment that quietly sparked a beauty revolution. At just 19, Thomas Lyle Williams created what would become Maybelline, inspired by his sister’s homemade eyelash treatments....

On this episode of Our American Stories, a bill of rights depends on a government that actually manifests restraint. Otherwise, Justice Scalia suggests, it is just a bill of goods. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, after becoming an empty nester, Paul Bauer decided to get a dog, despite knowing almost nothing about dogs. What he got instead was Gizmo, a stubborn, charming King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who quickly made it clear who was really in charge. With humor and humility, Paul shares the lessons Gizmo has taught him about patience, routine, pride, and love, and h...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early months of the COVID pandemic, when fear and uncertainty were everywhere, Stephen Rusiniak received a call that stopped him cold. His brother was sick, struggling to breathe, and finally asking for help. What followed was a quiet, urgent drive to the hospital, shaped by fear, duty, and love. Stephen tells the story of a moment when concern for h...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Before he became the most famous pilot in the world, Charles Lindbergh was a barnstormer, a daredevil wing walker, and a U.S. airmail pilot flying dangerous routes with little margin for error. Long before his historic Atlantic crossing, Lindbergh learned to trust machines, weather, and his own instincts in the air. Kirk Higgins of the  Bill of Rights...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1926, on the 150th anniversary of American independence, Calvin Coolidge delivered a Fourth of July address that went far beyond celebration. Speaking in Philadelphia, he argued that America’s prosperity did not create its founding ideals, but that its founding ideals created America’s prosperity. Coolidge warned that abandoning the principle...

On this episode of Our American Stories, deep in Richmond, Virginia, a converted warehouse known as Libby Prison held more than 1,200 Union officers during the Civil War. Prisoners survived on rotting cornbread, slept on bare floors, and shared the space with rats that outnumbered both guards and captives. Escape or death were the only ways out. Historian Robert P. Watson, author of Escape! , shar...

On this episode of Our American Stories, few pop songs sound like nothing that came before them. Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” is one of them, a hypnotic blend of rhythm, repetition, and existential wonder that has puzzled and inspired listeners for decades. Music critics and musicians alike have called it a perfect song, praising its strange power and its lyrics, which fee...

On this episode of Our American Stories, the lawn began as a practical patch of grass, a village common, and even a defensive buffer around medieval castles. Over time it became a status symbol on European estates, then a centerpiece of suburban life and a marker of the American Dream. The History Guy tells how one invention changed everything, the lawn mower, and traces the lawn’s evolution...

On this episode of Our American Stories, few decisions in American history remain as controversial as the choice to drop atomic bombs on Japan in the final days of World War II. Supporters argue the attacks hastened the war’s end and saved lives. Critics say they crossed a moral line that reshaped warfare forever. Ken LaCorte, host of the YouTube channel  Elephants in Rooms , examines t...

On this episode of Our American Stories, for decades, Black athletes were welcomed in nearly every position in professional football, except one. Quarterback was considered a “thinking man’s” role, and many coaches and owners believed Black players did not belong there. That belief collapsed in 1988 when Doug Williams, a backup QB who had been out of the leauge for a few years, l...

On this episode of Our American Stories, he was a saxophonist for one of the world’s great touring bands, Marcus King Band, but felt called to create something entirely his own. What started as a playful persona became a bold leap into creative freedom. Saxsquatch  himself  shares his story of leaving life as a sideman behind, building a new identity, writing original music, and co...

On this episode of Our American Stories, legend says that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads in exchange for his musical talent. It is one of the most enduring myths in American music history. Johnson’s grandson Steven Johnson shares the story and sets the record straight, tracing Robert Johnson’s life from Hazlehurst to the Mississippi Delta, explain...

On this episode of Our American Stories, for Stephen Rusiniak, one of the most influential people in his life was his Cub Scout leader. Long before Stephen found his calling and built his career, this leader saw potential in him and took the time to invest in it. Rusiniak shares how the guidance, discipline, and encouragement he received through Boy Scouts of America shaped his character, changed...

On this episode of Our American Stories, that old windmill along the highway may look like a relic, but without it, westward expansion would have been nearly impossible. Before electricity and diesel engines, windmills pumped water for farms, ranches, railroads, and growing towns across the American frontier. Our regular contributor, Jesse Edwards, shares the story of how windmills helped power se...