Our American Stories

Jackie Robinson Didn’t Just Change Baseball. He Changed America

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jackie Robinson didn’t plan to make history. He only wanted to play ball. But in a country that had bar...

Robert Smalls Stole a Confederate Ship and Sailed His Family to Freedom

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in May 1862, Robert Smalls carried out a daring escape from slavery in Charleston Harbor. Forced to work aboa...

What a Grandmother’s Hands Can Tell Us About Family

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Dennis Peterson, our regular contributor from South Carolina, reflects on his grandmother and the role grandp...

Jim Henson, Kermit the Frog, and the Rise of the Muppets

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the Muppets became a part of American television, Jim Henson was experimenting with a camera and ...

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the Story Behind America’s Most Famous Speech

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in November 1863, Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just months after one of the bloodiest...

The Woman Who Refused to Let Her Children See Defeat

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, before Devon Westhill became the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ...

April 14, 1865: A Police Chief Witnesses Lincoln’s Assassination

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, the week of April 1865 brought both the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. At For...

How RMS Titanic Became the First Real-Time Maritime Disaster

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, after RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, two young men spent the next 160 minutes sending ...

I Was Bored in Grad School, So I Joined the Navy and Went to Vietnam

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, while sitting in grad school, Hank Brown decided he’d had enough and signed up for the Navy. Within day...

What a Young Soldier Promised God After a Vietnam Mine Took His Legs

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the Vietnam War, then 20-year-old Jon Hovde was nearly killed when his vehicle struck an anti-tank min...

The Forgotten Plot to Steal Abraham Lincoln’s Body

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, most people know how Abraham Lincoln died. The assassination in 1865, carried out by John Wilkes Booth, is on...

Butch Cassidy Before the Legend: The Real Story of the Wild West Outlaw

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when people hear the name Butch Cassidy, they usually think of Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance ...

The Officer Known as the Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Kevin Briggs’ job is talking people off a ledge, or more specifically, the Golden Gate Bridge’s l...

Monocacy: The Forgotten Union Loss That Saved Washington, D.C.

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in July 1864, the Battle of Monocacy became one of the most important Civil War battles that many Americans h...

How The Pilgrim’s Progress Became One of the Most Read Books in History

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, while in prison for preaching without a license, John Bunyan wrote what would become one of the most influent...

The Story of Thomas Fitzpatrick, Mountain Man and Frontier Diplomat

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early 1800s, as the American frontier pushed west, a small group of trappers and traders began moving ...

Abraham Lincoln’s Last Happy Days Before the Assassination

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in April 1865, just days after the Civil War ended, Abraham Lincoln experienced what many described as one of...

Jelly Roll, a Tennessee Governor, and the Power of Redemption

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he was known as a country music artist, Jelly Roll had a record that included multiple arrests and tim...

An Australian’s First Taste of Buffalo Wings

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Colin Bettles, an Our American Stories listener from Australia, had never heard of buffalo wings un...

Nala Ray’s Transformation from OnlyFans Success to a Life of Faith

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Nala Ray was an early success story on OnlyFans, building a large following and earning significant income as...

Liquor and the Law: How a Tennessee Wine Case Reached the Supreme Court

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Doug and Mary Ketchum moved to Tennessee to open a liquor store, only to run into a state residency law that ...

Brian Wilson and Good Vibrations: The Song That Redefined Pop

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Brian Wilson didn’t record “Good Vibrations” the way most songs were made at the time. He b...

Richard Gatling and the Gun Meant to End All Wars

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the American Civil War, inventor Richard Gatling set out to solve a problem he believed defined modern...

America’s First Celebrity: Literary Legend, Washington Irving

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early years of the United States, Washington Irving became one of the first writers to achieve both na...

The Day I Glued My Finger to My Son’s Face

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, during a quiet family visit, Brent Timmons, our regular contributor from Connecticut, found himself pulled ou...

The Story of Captain Kangaroo

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Bob Keeshan, a Marine, created Captain Kangaroo in 1955, at a time when television was still new an...

"Precious Lord, Take My Hand" and the Tragedy Behind It

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Thomas A. Dorsey helped bridge blues and church music, but his most famous hymn came from tragedy. In 1932, a...

How Henry Ford Created the Modern World

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, but he changed its place in American life. By making the car afford...

How Serving Coffee and Donuts in World War I Led To Women Gaining the Right to Vote

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, before World War I, the suffrage movement had been fighting for decades without success. The war changed that...

The Leadership Lesson That Built Aron Marquez’s $100M Business

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Aron Marquez’s story begins in the fields, working long hours and learning firsthand what hard work rea...

The Story of America: George Washington’s First Term and the First Test of the Constitution [Ep. 14]

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, the early United States faced deep uncertainty after the American Revolutionary War, and the Constitution had...

How an Ice Cream Man Cracked Press Your Luck and Won Big

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1984, a contestant named Michael Larson, an ice cream man from Ohio, stepped onto the set of Press Yo...

Sergeant Stubby: The Stray Dog Who Became a World War I Hero

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, during World War I, one unlikely hero stood out among the soldiers, and he walked on four legs! Sergeant Stub...

The Welding Program Helping People Move Beyond Homelessness

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Reignite Hope began with a simple question about how to help people move forward when life has fallen apart. ...

The Incident at Exeter: America’s Most Credible UFO Sighting

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Iin September 1965, a quiet stretch of road in New Hampshire became the setting for what many still consider ...

The Brooklyn Bridge and the Family That Built It

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and quickly became one of the most remarkable engineering achievements in ...

How a World War II Veteran Changed My Life

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, after watching Saving Private Ryan, Jay Moore walked into a bookstore in Texas and struck up a conversation w...

What It Was Like to Stand in the Shadow of an Atomic Blast

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, from 1945 to 1992, the United States conducted more than a thousand nuclear weapons tests. Many took place in...

How a UCLA Student Helped Save a Lost Marx Brothers Film

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the 1970s, a UCLA student named Steve Stoliar set out to track down a missing piece of Hollywood history. ...

In 1838, Two U.S. Congressmen Dueled with… Rifles!

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the winter of 1838, a political argument in Congress crossed a line few thought possible. Maine Representa...

When Ben Franklin's Son Took the Loyalist Side in the Revolution

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the American Revolution, few family divisions ran deeper than the one between Benjamin Franklin and hi...

How Billy Graham Became America's Pastor

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Billy Graham became one of the most influential Christian evangelists in American history, preaching to milli...

What One Young Woman Learned From Growing Up With Clubfoot

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Chloe Howard was born with a congenital clubfoot, a condition known medically as talipes equinovarus that aff...

The Story of America: How the Bill of Rights Was Added to the U.S. Constitution [Ep. 13]

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when the U.S. Constitution was drafted, it created a new national government but left many Americans uneasy. ...

Cecil Wax and the Night He Faced Death in the Battle of the Bulge

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, Allied forces fought through one of the most dangerous stre...

The CEO Who Stripped His Jet to Say He Was Sorry

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when a major deal with Mercedes-Benz went wrong, Roger Penske didn’t send an email or a team of lawyers...

Steve Jobs, Apple, and the Pursuit of a Perfect Product

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Walter Isaacson began working on his biography of Steve Jobs, he quickly saw that Jobs approached Apple ...

Tyler Hamilton and the Truth Behind Lance Armstrong

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Tyler Hamilton spent years competing at the highest level of professional cycling, including riding alongside...

After Losing His Fingers in a Fire, One Boy Faced the Impossible—with a Piano

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when John O’Leary was nine years old, a house fire left him with burns over 100 percent of his body. Do...

The Kidnapping That Ended With One Oilman Outsmarting Machine Gun Kelly

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Charles Urschel had money, influence, and a target on his back. When Machine Gun Kelly broke into his home an...

The Unexpected Olympic Friendship That Defied Hitler’s Propaganda

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jesse Owens arrived in Berlin for the 1936 Olympics as one of the fastest men in the world. The long jump com...

"High and Dry" and "Let the Cat Out of the Bag": The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice of his guide to understanding the baffling mini-mysteries of the English...

From Mafia to Ministry: Robert Borelli’s Story

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Robert Borelli once believed the Mafia offered the clearest path to power. As a teenager growing up in Brookl...

The Puritan Who Brought Scripture to New England’s Tribes

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, have you ever heard of a Puritan pastor who learned a new language so he could preach the Bible to Native Ame...

The Forgotten Story of the Land Laws That Sheltered Women When They Had No Voice

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the nineteenth century, a woman’s future could collapse overnight. If a husband died, disappeared, o...

The Restaurant Owner Who Offered a Job to the Man Who Robbed Him

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Diablo’s Southwest Grill in Georgia was broken into, owner Carl Wallace could have responded the w...

Providence Spring: Faith and Survival at Andersonville

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, by the summer of 1864, Union prisoners at Andersonville were dying by the thousands. The Confederate prison c...

Why Shirley Chisolm Reached a Man Who Built His Career on Racism

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, few figures in twentieth-century American politics stood farther apart than Shirley Chisholm and George Walla...

Life Before Digital Photos: The Last Days of Kodachrome

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, before digital photography took over, Kodachrome was one of the most famous color films in the world. Its ric...

Ulysses S. Grant and the Memoir That Saved His Family

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, after serving as the Union general who helped win the Civil War and later as the 18th president of the United...

Sacagawea: The Teenager Who Helped Guide Lewis and Clark Across the West

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, she was just a teenager, carrying her infant son, when she joined the most daring expedition in American hist...

Theodore Roosevelt: The Protestant President Who Protected an Antisemite with Jewish Police Officers

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, as an icon of the Protestant elite, Theodore Roosevelt was an unlikely ally of the waves of impoverished Jewi...

The Black Medal of Honor Recipient Who Bombed His Own Hideout to Save Lives

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in December 1944, American forces were fighting to hold ground in the Italian village of Sommocolonia when Ge...

“Red Tape” and the Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions (Pt. 19)

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice from his guide to unraveling the baffling mini-mysteries of the English ...

1776: The Year the Colonies Turned Against Britain

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1776, the relationship between Britain and the American colonies reached a breaking point. What began as p...

Higgins: The Louisiana Boat Builder Who Won World War II

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, they needed a way to get from ship to shore quic...

The Wealthy Man Who Refused to Live Like One

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Kenny Monfort built significant wealth, but he didn’t live like someone trying to prove it. Hank Brown ...

A Player’s View of the University of Wisconsin Stampede

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when a stadium full of excited sports fans pressed downhill against inadequate crowd control, tragedy struck ...

How General Lafayette’s Return to America Healed a Divided Nation

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, by the 1820s, many of the heroes of the American Revolution were gone, and the country they helped create was...

How My Grandpa’s Singing Changed My Life

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Maureen Elwyn shares the heartfelt story of a moment with her elderly grandfather and his beautiful singing a...

Diego Moreno: Husband, Father, Officer

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Diego Moreno was a police officer in Washington, a trainer, and a father whose life left a lasting mark on th...

The Story of America: Thomas Jefferson's Dying Words On Slavery [Ep. 20]

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in our 20th episode of our ongoing Story of Us, The Story of America series, Dr. Bill McClay, autho...

The Father Who Survived Bataan and Came Home a Hero

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Estel Myers joined the military after an argument with his father and soon found himself in the Philippines a...

Ted Williams and the Story Behind Baseball’s Greatest Hitter

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, few players in baseball history match what Ted Williams accomplished at the plate. Called the “John Way...

The Untold Story of Generic Drugs and Lower Prescription Prices

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Bruce Paddock bought a bankrupt pharmaceutical company at 29, most people thought he was making a terrib...

Why the “Perfect Mom” Doesn’t Exist

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Tiffany Jenkins built a large following as a mom influencer and creator of Juggling the Jenkins, but her stor...

The Car Repair Shop That’s Changing Lives

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Mike Gideon started out doing what he loved, working on cars and restoring classics with the expectation that...

Queen Esther and the Jewish Roots of American Liberty

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, the story of Queen Esther, told in the Book of Esther in the Bible, is usually read as a story of courage and...

Pat Boone and Shirley Foley Boone: A Life of Music and Marriage

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, at the height of his career, Pat Boone was one of the most recognizable figures in American music, known for ...

A General Explains the Invisible Struggle Facing Veterans

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Major General “Mook” Mukoyama volunteered and served in both Korea and Vietnam, building a long c...

A Mom and Son Ran a Marathon in All 50 States Together

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, most people set out to run a single marathon and call it a lifetime achievement. Karen Thomson and her son, J...

"Back to Square One" and the Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions (Pt. 3)

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice of his guide to understanding the baffling mini-mysteries of the English...

Was Lincoln Religious? The Complicated Faith of Abraham Lincoln

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Abraham Lincoln often spoke about God, especially during the darkest days of the Civil War. But what he belie...

The Story of How the Muppets Began as a TV Commercial

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, Brian Jay Jones, author of Jim Henson: The Biography, tells the story of how some of America’s mos...

How the Beastie Boys Took Hip-Hop From New York to the Nation

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early days of hip-hop, the music grew out of Black and Latino communities in New York City. It was loc...

Mary Edwards Walker: The Only Woman Awarded the Medal of Honor

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the middle of the Civil War, when battlefield medicine was rough, dangerous, and often improvised, one doc...

How a College Student Saved Ulysses S. Grant’s Tomb

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, General Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War and later served two terms as the 18t...

Fifty Years Later, I Returned to the Place I Once Called Home

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, as a boy growing up in Kansas City, Roger Rench’s life changed suddenly when his father took a job as a...

The Story of America: Why the Constitution Needed the Federalist Papers [Ep. 12]

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, when the Constitution emerged from the Constitutional Convention in 1787, its future was far from certain. Th...

Why I Climbed Into a Dumpster to Play Cards with a Homeless Man

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, acts of kindness often begin in ordinary moments. For Paul Kotz, a regular contributor to Our American Storie...

Sunday Mornings with Big Mitch: Ep. 15

22 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of Our American Stories, every Sunday, Our American Stories host Lee Habeeb speaks with Mitchel "Big Mitch" Rutledge, who has spe...