Our American Stories

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, when Bob McLalan’s son told him he wanted to become a Green Beret, the words carried a weight that lingered. There was courage in the choice, but also risk. Every parent hopes  their child finds purpose, yet few are ready for the moment that purpose calls them away. In this story, Bob shares how his son’s decision shaped their family’...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Nancy Kelsey left Missouri with her husband in 1841, she had no map, no guide, and no reason to believe she’d ever see home again. She was young, pregnant, and part of the first wagon train attempting to cross into California. The trail stretched endlessly, marked by hunger, broken wagons, and the quiet fear of being lost for good. Still, Nancy k...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Dr. E. Wesley Ely of Vanderbilt University Medical Center shares deeply meaningful experiences—both medical and spiritual—from a patient’s suddenly shortened final days. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early years of television, few moments carried more weight than the night journalist Edward R. Murrow confronted Senator Joseph McCarthy. America was deep in the Cold War, and McCarthy’s accusations of communist influence had created an atmosphere of fear that silenced many. Murrow chose to speak anyway. On his CBS program  See It Now , he...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Blair Linne grew up moving from place to place, never staying long enough to unpack completely. Her mother loved her deeply, but without a father, stability was something they could never hold on to. By the time Blair reached adulthood, she had lived in twenty-five homes. What she found along the way was not just struggle, but faith, community, and a new un...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Ken Wells always dreamed of flying. When that dream took him to the skies over Vietnam, he knew the risks but never imagined how quickly everything would change. Just two days before his wife, Candy, gave birth to their first child, Ken’s plane was shot down. He spent years in captivity at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, surviving hunger, isolation, and to...

On this episode of Our American Stories, for years, Tasha Layton lived the dream that countless young artists imagine. She toured the world, performed before massive crowds, and sang beside one of the biggest names in pop music. But beneath the lights, she felt a growing emptiness that success couldn’t fill. When she finally stepped away, she didn’t know what would come next, only that...

On this episode of Our American Stories, it’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when the automobile was hailed as an environmental savior. Cities at the turn of the century were suffocating under the burden of their own success. The horse had built them, but it was also destroying them. Streets were thick with waste, and the air carried the scent of disease. Into that chaos rolled th...

On this episode of Our American Stories, it began with a few rare bottles and a collector who thought he’d found perfection. But what looked like the discovery of a lifetime turned out to be one of the most elaborate wine scams in modern history. Billionaire Bill Koch, known for his meticulous taste and love of authenticity, discovered that his prized collection included counterfeits, some f...

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he became America’s most celebrated poet, Walt Whitman was simply a man searching for his brother on a battlefield. What he discovered there transformed him. The war showed him suffering on a scale he had never imagined, yet it also revealed the resilience of the human spirit. In makeshift hospitals and tents, he tended to both Union and Confed...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when American troops left for war, they carried reminders of home that came in the simplest form: food. Spam and Hershey’s chocolate became symbols of comfort in a world that had lost its sense of safety. Spam filled mess kits and fueled long marches through mud and heat. Hershey’s chocolate brought a quick burst of sweetness that could steady a...

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the darkest years of World War II, a woman from Baltimore slipped behind enemy lines with a fake passport, a limp, and a mission that would alter the course of the war. Her name was Virginia Hall, and the Gestapo called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.” Working for the Office of Strategic Services, she built resistance network...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Brandon Burlsworth first stepped onto the University of Arkansas practice field, almost no one believed he belonged there. He had no scholarship, no athletic pedigree, and nothing to recommend him beyond an unshakable work ethic. Yet every morning, he showed up before the sun and stayed long after the lights went out. Over time, the kid from Harrison e...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Led Zeppelin stormed onto the music scene, their sound felt untouchable. It was raw, electric, and entirely new. Yet beneath the roar of the guitars was a rhythm that didn’t begin in London. Its roots were planted in the American South, crafted by a bluesman whose work shaped the foundation of rock long before the world knew Jimmy Page or Robert...

On this episode of Our American Stories, few thought a quiet cartoon about a sad little tree could work on television. But Charles Schulz believed that A Charlie Brown Christmas  would speak to people in a way that noise and spectacle never could. The animation was rough, the dialogue understated, and the jazz soundtrack unlike anything audiences had heard before. But when it aired in Decembe...

On this episode of Our American Stories, only weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Prime Minister Winston Churchill made an all-important stop in the United States to meet with President Roosevelt and address Congress about the difficult road ahead. He knew better than anyone what that path looked like—he had been walking it alone for some time. Support the show ( https://www.our...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Nancy "3" Hoffman has spent her life chasing delight in the unexpected. A professional accordionist and world traveler, she built a museum that no one else in the world had thought to create: a home for umbrella covers. On Peaks Island, Maine, her collection began as a joke among friends and grew into a destination that celebrates the overlooked details of...

On this episode of Our American Stories, along the shores of Lake Michigan sits a story stranger than fiction: a man preserved in a glass coffin. He was part of the House of David, a communal religious group whose followers built amusement parks, baseball teams, and their own legends. Visitors came from across the country to see him—but not all came with good intentions. Thieves once tried t...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when 16-year-old Hector Boiardi stepped off the ship at Ellis Island, he carried more ambition than belongings. Trained as a chef, he brought Old World recipes to his new country and eventually opened a restaurant that made his pasta sauce famous. Soon, his name—changed to Boyardee so Americans could pronounce it—appeared on canned foods across...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Taylor Dooley’s breakout role as Lava Girl launched her into sudden fame, but it also came with pressures few young actors are prepared to handle. By her late teens, she stepped away from Hollywood to live life outside the spotlight. Years later, Dooley returned to reprise the role that defined her childhood in Netflix’s  We Can Be Heroes....

On this episode of Our American Stories, Tommy Emmanuel grew up in Australia with a guitar in his hands and a dream in his heart. Inspired by country guitar legend Chet Atkins, he taught himself to play with a style and energy that amazed audiences. That dream eventually led him to America, where he found a home for both his music and his talent. Here, Emmanuel reflects on how his music continues...

On this episode of Our American Stories, escaping war-torn, Nazi-occupied Croatia during World War II, Tony Maglica started over in the United States with nothing but ambition and skill. He worked tirelessly, built his own tools, and eventually invented the Maglite: a flashlight that redefined quality and reliability. For decades, Maglite has been proudly made in America, carried by first responde...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1961, a group of young men and women boarded buses to test whether the Supreme Court’s desegregation rulings would be honored in the South. They became known as the Freedom Riders. Their mission was met with brutal violence as mobs and members of the Ku Klux Klan attacked them for daring to sit as equals. But they refused to turn back. Kirk Higgins...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1846, a group of pioneers set out for California with dreams of a better life. Known as the Donner Party, they fell behind on the trail, took a disastrous shortcut, and became trapped in the Sierra Nevada as winter storms closed in. With supplies gone and snow piling up, survival came at a great cost. Here’s their remarkable and tragic story. Suppo...