Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, at seven years old, Randy Liberty visited his absent father behind bars at the Maine State Prison, whose imposing walls later helped inspire Stephen King's novel  The Shawshank Redemption . Decades later, he returned to that same prison, not as a visitor but as a corrections officer. Along the way, he charted his own unique path, rose to become the pri...

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he became a familiar face in westerns like  Tales of Wells Fargo  and  Iron Horse , Dale Robertson was fighting in Europe during World War II. Commissioned through Officer Candidate School, he served with the U.S. Army’s 322nd Combat Engineer Battalion of the 97th Infantry Division, was wounded twice, and earned both the Silver S...

On this episode of Our American Stories, decades before Orson Welles’s  War of the Worlds  shocked the nation, a New York newspaper convinced thousands of Americans that the Moon was teeming with life. Beginning on August 25, 1835,  The Sun  published a sensational series claiming that famed English astronomer Sir John Herschel had discovered a lunar civilization populate...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when one of his graduate students challenged a 92 on an assignment, Paul Kotz was frustrated. The student questioned his grading, his judgment, and, for a moment, even his love of teaching. But instead of firing off another email, Kotz picked up the phone. Paul shares the story of the conversation that followed, which had little to do with grades and everyt...

On this episode of Our American Stories, as industrial America surged forward in the late 19th century, millions of farmers and working Americans felt left behind by falling crop prices, mounting debt, and economic upheaval. Into that unrest stepped William Jennings Bryan, a fiery young politician from Nebraska whose famous “Cross of Gold” speech in Chicago transformed him into the lea...

On this episode of Our American Stories, a late-night mistake changed Gwen Boyd-Willis’s life in 2005. After serving her time, she did everything people say you’re supposed to do took responsibility, earned a degree, rebuilt her life, and kept trying to move forward. But every background check brought the same answer: no. In this installment of our  Opportunity America  serie...

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before baseball became America’s pastime, soldiers carried the game with them into war. On the battlefield of Battle of Shiloh, one of the bloodiest clashes of the American Civil War, a forgotten baseball was discovered years later buried amid the history of combat and sacrifice. Our American Stories  regular contributor Ashley Hlebinsky sha...

On this episode of Our American Stories, before becoming television’s legendary Marshal Matt Dillon on  Gunsmoke , James Arness was a towering young infantryman fighting through some of the fiercest combat of World War II. Wounded during the brutal fighting at Battle of Anzio, Arness nearly lost his leg and spent almost a year recovering in military hospitals before earning a Bronze Sta...

On this episode of Our American Stories, minister, newspaper editor, and abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy believed the Bible demanded opposition to slavery, and he was unwilling to stay silent about it. Through his anti-slavery newspaper, Lovejoy condemned slavery’s brutality, defended freedom of the press, and challenged a nation increasingly divided over one of its greatest injustices. In this...

On this episode of Our American Stories, on November 5, 2021, a funeral service was held for Colin Powell at Washington National Cathedral. Powell died at age 84 from complications related to COVID-19 while undergoing treatment for cancer. In this moving tribute, his son, Michael Powell, shares heartfelt reflections on his father’s life, character, and legacy. Support the show ( https://www....

On this episode of Our American Stories, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick entered the NFL as the No. 1 overall draft pick and quickly became one of football’s biggest stars, redefining the quarterback position with his speed, athleticism, and electrifying style of play. But after his involvement in a dogfighting operation led to prison time and public disgrace, Vick was forced...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Ian Rowe grew up in a Jamaican immigrant family that believed deeply in education, hard work, and the promise of America. So when his Queens junior high school rapidly became all black after white families pulled their children out, his parents assumed the better opportunity lay elsewhere. But twelve-year-old Ian disagreed, and refused to accept the idea th...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Nile Kinnick transformed a struggling Iowa Hawkeyes football program through sheer grit, leadership, and one extraordinary season that earned him college football’s highest honor, the Heisman Trophy. But after becoming one of the biggest stars in American sports, Kinnick turned away from professional football, pursued law, and ultimately answered the...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Colonel David Hackworth was a soldier’s soldier. He fought in the Korean War, commanded troops in the Vietnam War, and earned more than 90 awards for valor, making him one of the most decorated military figures in American history. But his legacy extends beyond medals and citations. In Vietnam, Hackworth became known for his bold leadership, unconvent...

On this episode of Our American Stories, retired U.S. Navy Captain Mike McDaniel takes us back to the day he was a third-grade boy sitting on his bed when his mother told him his father had been shot down during the Vietnam War. His father was Eugene “Red” McDaniel, the famed Navy pilot who disappeared on his 81st combat mission and would spend nearly six years as a prisoner of war in...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Tim Harford, author of the bestselling book  Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy , shares the stories behind three transformative innovations: concrete, the LLC (limited liability company), and the index fund. From the concrete that built our cities, to the LLC that revolutionized business ownership, to the index fund that reshaped investin...

On this episode of Our American Stories, George Washington is correctly remembered as America’s first  real  president, but under the nation’s original government, another man held the title years earlier: John Hanson. Historian, bestselling author, and  Our American Stories  regular contributor Christopher Klein shares the surprising story of the forgotten Maryland...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jeremy Lott never got the chance to hear his daughter cry, watch her crawl, or hold her for the life he and his wife had imagined. Diagnosed in the womb with a rare fatal condition, their daughter, Cecelia, was stillborn in July 2017. Yet during her short life before birth, she danced to Irish music, responded to familiar voices, and left an unforgettable m...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Vince Lombardi transformed the Green Bay Packers into a dynasty and helped turn football into a symbol of discipline, leadership, and the American experience. But behind the championships, the famous speeches, and the legendary Green Bay sweep was a far more complicated man shaped by faith, family, ambition, and struggle. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist D...

On this episode of Our American Stories, after leaving  Lonestar , John Rich found himself back in Nashville trying to rebuild his country music career from scratch. The future Big & Rich star kept writing songs, navigating the highs and lows of the Nashville music scene, and slowly discovered the sound that would help make him one of country music’s most recognizable voices. Rich s...

On this episode of Our American Stories, what role did the Bible play in shaping America? According to Robert J. Morgan, author of  100 Bible Verses That Made America , it was central, especially for early leaders like Pastor John Robinson, who used scripture to guide the Pilgrims toward their historic journey. Here's Morgan with the story. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.co...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Danny Elfman first became famous as the lead singer of Oingo Boingo before building a career as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable film composers. His work on  Batman ,  Beetlejuice ,  Edward Scissorhands , and  The Simpsons  helped shape the sound of movies and television for an entire generation. But music was not always h...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Joy Neal Kidney shares the story of a handmade quilt that linked her to her great-grandmother, Laura Goff, a country schoolteacher born shortly after the American Civil War who raised 11 children while moving across the Midwest in search of opportunity and education for her family. Years after Laura’s death, Joy inherited her unfinished “Periwin...

On this episode of Our American Stories, finding meaningful work is easier said than done. For our  Opportunity America  series, Kelly Robinson shares how the culture at Koch Industries helped her discover new strengths, grow professionally, and ultimately find her calling. It’s a story about career growth, workplace culture, leadership, and what can happen when employees are encou...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in January 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress crash near Goldsboro sent two massive hydrogen bombs falling to the ground just days after John F. Kennedy took office. But much of what happened that day remained hidden from the public for decades. Earl Smith, the young Air Force bomb disposal technician sent to the scene, shares what he saw on the night of the Golds...