Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, Alex Berezow remembers his grandfather Dimitri the only way a life like this can be remembered, by telling the story. Born under Stalin, forced into Nazi labor camps as a teenager, and surviving through nerve, charm, and impossible luck, Dimitri escaped the worst regimes of the 20th century and eventually made his way to America. What follows is a portrait...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Pastor Scott Jones, author of  Growing Up Rural , shares a memory from his youth when a small decision and the temptation to bend the truth carried real consequences. What follows is a quiet but powerful reflection on honesty, responsibility, and how the lessons we learn as children can stay with us for life. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericans...

On this episode of Our American Stories, before Secretariat became a Triple Crown legend, Penny Chenery was a mother of five facing an unexpected turning point. As her father’s health failed, she stepped in to run a struggling Virginia horse farm and entered a male-dominated racing world where she was often dismissed and rarely welcomed. Filmmaker Randall Wallace, writer and director of &nbs...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Stephen Rusiniak became the father of a daughter, worry came with the job. When she grew into a high school gymnast, those worries took on a whole new shape. From the hospital delivery room to the balance beam, Rusiniak reflects on the quiet terror and deep pride of learning when a father must let go and simply watch from the stands. Support the show (...

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the American Revolution, Jews made up only a tiny fraction of the population, yet many became passionate patriots in the fight for independence and religious freedom. Historian Adam Jortner, author of   A Promised Land , shares the overlooked stories of Jewish Americans who fought, organized, and risked everything for a new nation, and how their...

On this episode of Our American Stories, why do we have so many different kinds of screws? The answer lies in a little-known industrial rivalry between the Robertson and Phillips screw designs, where engineering innovation collided with manufacturing, war, and corporate power. The History Guy shares the fascinating story of how historical events and business decisions determined which screw would...

On this episode of Our American Stories, invented in 1897, Jell-O became one of America’s most recognizable foods through clever marketing, simple convenience, and perfect timing. Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out   and  The Brain Food Show  tells how a wobbly gelatin dessert worked its way into American kitchens, culture, and history. Support the show ( https://www.ourameri...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Abercrombie & Fitch once ruled shopping malls in the 1990s and early 2000s, but its story began long before loud music and cologne. Founded in 1892 in New York City, the company started as an elite outfitter for explorers, presidents, and world-class outdoorsmen. Historian Ashley Hlebinsky traces the brand’s forgotten origins, from supplying Theod...

On this episode of Our American Stories, if you could spend one hour talking with anyone, living or not, who would you choose? For regular contributor Stephen Rusiniak, the answer isn’t a famous figure or historical hero. It’s his parents. In this deeply personal reflection, Rusiniak imagines what he would say, what he wouldn’t say, and why simply being together again would be en...

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...