Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, Canada is an independent nation, not part of the United States. A lot of that has to do with smallpox. Here to tell the story is William Federer, president of AmeriSearch. 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 part three of our five-part series, Brett Favre gets very personal about his miraculous Monday Night Football game, which occurred immediately after his father’s passing. 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, we all have a Billy Graham story—Ruth Graham, Billy's daughter, shares hers in the touching eulogy she gave at her father's funeral as part of our ongoing Final Thoughts series.  Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate ) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Stephen Ambrose wrote the definitive biography of Dwight Eisenhower. Ike was born in a small rented shack beside the railroad tracks in Denison, Texas. He was raised in a family of Mennonites—fundamentalists in their Christian faith who were also committed pacifists. Here's the late Ambrose himself with the story of our 34th president. Support the sho...

On this episode of Our American Stories, today, the Super Bowl is the most-watched event on television—between 90 and 110 million people tune in to the "big game" each year. Americans consume 1.45 billion chicken wings (enough to circle the Earth three times), eat 28 million slices of pizza, and drink 325 million gallons of beer on this unofficial holiday. But it wasn’t always this way...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Latin is the dead language of the Romans—but to David P. Hardy, it was exactly what inner-city kids needed to thrive in school and become good citizens. Here's David with the story of how he founded Boys' Latin—and fell in love with being an educator in the worst neighborhood Philadelphia had to offer.  Support the show ( https://www.o...

On this episode of Our American Stories, The History Guy remembers a truly extraordinary Civil War heroine, Mary Edwards Walker. She is the only woman in U.S. history to receive the Medal of Honor. 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, Presidential historian and author of   Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon , Louis Picone, shares the story of the creation, degradation, and revitalization of the former president's final resting place in New York City. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate ) Support the show:...

On this episode of Our American Stories, author Louis Picone tells the story of how Grant's memoirs came to be while the former president was bankrupt and dying of cancer. 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, Dr. John Marszalek and Eddie Rangel of the Grant Presidential Library share the story of how Ulysses S. Grant went from selling firewood on a street corner to leading the U.S. Army to victory in the Civil War. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate ) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listene...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Professor David Babcock shares his inspiring and quirky story of how he earned a Guinness World Record for knitting the longest scarf while running a marathon. 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, from bifocals and the cotton gin to the automobile and the iPhone, America has a long history of inventions that changed the world. But not every invention was born from necessity—some were created simply for fun. In this episode, author Natascha Biebow joins us to share the colorful true story of Edwin Binney, the inventor of Crayola crayons, as told...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Pastor Greg Laurie tells the story of his life—from growing up in the tumult of the ’60s, to finding God, and ultimately making peace with his family 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, to some, they were heroes. To others, they were villains. But when the Barrow Gang rolled into Dexter, Iowa, they were simply strangers. Rod Stanley of the Dexter Museum tells the story. 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, Caleb Bailey's father wanted nothing more than to be a firefighter. But just 10 days after Caleb was born, his father died in the line of duty while responding to a structure fire at a pet food factory in Los Angeles in 1998, leaving behind a young wife and two sons. It was the first line-of-duty fatality the L.A. Fire Department had seen in decades. Here's...

On this episode of Our American Stories, "White Christmas" and "God Bless America" are both standards of American popular music, and both were written by an immigrant. An astonishing fact—but more astonishing is that they were written by the same man: Irving Berlin. Here to tell Berlin’s story is bestselling author Laurence Bergreen, who wrote the definitive biography  As Thousand...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Major General James Mukoyama rose from his blue-collar Chicago neighborhood to become the first Asian American to command a U.S. Army division. General “Mook” is the author of  Faith, Family & Flag: Memoirs of an Unlikely American Samurai Crusader . Here he is with the story of the Japanese Americans who fought for the United States in...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Alexander Hamilton is one of the most controversial and misunderstood Founding Fathers in American history. A brilliant yet complex figure, his ideas helped shape the nation’s financial system, government, and legacy. Historian Ron Chernow—author of the New York Times bestselling biography  Alexander Hamilton , which inspired the hit Broadw...

On this episode of Our American Stories, the river town of Hannibal, Missouri, spared Mark Twain from nothing, exposing him to poverty, death, racism, and the need to make decisions for himself. Here's Richard Garey, a Mark Twain aficionado, with the story of this all-important town. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate ) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com...

On this episode of Our American Stories, OAS listener from South Carolina, Dennis Peterson, shares the spellbinding story of his grandfather, "Paw" Summers. 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, many countries have mascots. Canada has Johnny Canuck, Israel has Srulik, the U.K. has John Bull—and the United States has Uncle Sam. But how did he come to be? It turns out it wasn’t the work of an intrepid cartoonist or a government initiative, but barrels full of meat during the War of 1812 that gave the USA its persona. Here’s the stor...

On this episode of Our American Stories, for the longest time, the NBA was a financially unstable, mostly regional, and hard-to-sell property—at one point, they were nearly forced off of CBS. But thanks to business-savvy individuals like David Stern, the NBA became a money-making machine. The question was: would CBS re-up with them or cut them loose? David Stern decided to draw a hard line....

On this episode of Our American Stories, Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger Matt Atkinson tells the story of Dan Sickles—the man who pioneered the “temporary insanity” plea after murdering his wife's lover, had his leg shot off by Longstreet's cannon fire in a peach orchard, and later helped establish Gettysburg National Military Park. Support the show ( https://www.ourameri...

On this episode of Our American Stories, working remotely meant she could live remotely, too... so Emma decided to buy a sailboat and go to Florida. Here she is to explain why she made the unorthodox decision to set her sights on the high seas. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate ) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in July 1945, a U.S. B-25 Mitchell bomber got lost in heavy fog over Manhattan. Here’s The History Guy with the forgotten—and astonishing—story. Support the show ( https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate ) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.