Our American Stories

Epizode

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  Bass Reeves: The Former Slave Who Tamed the Wild West 02.10.2026 38min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Bass Reeves was born into slavery in Arkansas in 1838. During the Civil War, he escaped bondage and made his way to Indian Territory. Years later, he returned there carrying a badge. For more than three decades, Reeves served federal warrants across some of the most dangerous country in the West, tracking fugitives, working in disguise, and earning a reputation so formidable that some outlaws reportedly chose surrender over facing him.Professor Art T. Burton, author of Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves, shares the story of the man behind the legend. Burton's own search through court records, newspapers, and family history uncovered a career that had nearly slipped from public memory: an escaped slave who became one of the most respected and relentless lawmen of the American frontier. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  What Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II Taught a 23-Year-Old Newbie 02.10.2026 10min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Tim Leuliette was only 23 when he found himself presenting multimillion-dollar proposals to Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II at Ford Motor Company. Working in product planning during the 1970s energy crisis meant long nights, five-minute presentations, and learning how to strip away the fluff and get straight to the facts.Leuliette, who went on to become a prominent automotive executive and turnaround specialist, remembers the lessons, pressure, and occasional practical joke that made working for Lee Iacocca and Ford one of the greatest business educations of his life. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Thomas Mundy Peterson: The First Black Voter Under the 15th Amendment 02.10.2026 9min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, on March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson walked into Perth Amboy City Hall in New Jersey to vote on a local charter. Nothing about the election seemed especially historic. But when Peterson cast his ballot, he became the first Black American known to vote under the protection of the newly ratified 15th Amendment.Historian Elliott Drago of the Jack Miller Center shares the story of Peterson's vote and the larger struggle it represented. In the years after the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments forced the country to answer some of its most fundamental questions about freedom, citizenship, and who had the right to participate in American democracy. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  A.P. Giannini: The Italian American Who Bet on Everyday Americans 02.10.2026 9min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1904, A.P. Giannini opened the Bank of Italy in San Francisco for the people other bankers tended to overlook: immigrants, farmers, shopkeepers, and working families. Then, just two years later, the earthquake and fire devastated the city. While San Francisco struggled to get back on its feet, Giannini began lending money to people who needed a chance to rebuild. It was the kind of banking he had imagined from the beginning.The History Guy and Forbes editor-in-chief Steve Forbes share the astonishing story of how Giannini carried his idea far beyond one neighborhood bank. His willingness to bet on ordinary people would grow the Bank of Italy into the Bank of America, and the same institution that helped San Franciscans rebuild would later help finance the Golden Gate Bridge and Walt Disney's Snow White. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  The Song My Father Remembered When He Forgot Everything Else 02.10.2026 7min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, growing up, Karen Cutler Drecktrah and her sister loved teasing their father, Jim, about his favorite song, "Kentucky Waltz." They had never heard it and were convinced he had confused it with "Tennessee Waltz." Jim insisted the song was real, even though he could no longer remember the words or melody.Decades later, as 89-year-old Jim struggled with dementia in a Wisconsin hospital, he suddenly began singing a song from his childhood. What happened next would give Karen, her sister, and their father one last happy afternoon together. For our Final Thoughts series, Karen shares her moving story. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Winston Churchill: The Warrior Who Hated War 01.10.2026 20min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Winston Churchill had seen war up close long before he was asked to lead a nation through one. As a young soldier and correspondent, he rode into battle, came under fire, and watched new weapons make killing faster and more devastating. The experience never left him. Churchill spent much of his life warning about the cost of war and searching for ways to prevent another catastrophe.Then came May 1940. France was collapsing, Nazi Germany was sweeping across Europe, and Britain faced the possibility of standing alone. Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn shares how Churchill’s lifelong study of war, freedom, and human nature prepared him for the decision that would define his life: whether Britain would seek terms or keep fighting. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  The Home Depot Worker Who Became Boston’s Lead Singer 01.10.2026 9min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Tommy DeCarlo’s story feels like a lost lyric from a Boston song. He worked at Home Depot by day and sang their music at night, never expecting anyone to hear him beyond a few friends. Then a homemade recording traveled farther than he ever could have planned. The surviving members of Boston, led by guitarist and founder Tom Scholz, invited him to join the band that had sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. In time, DeCarlo stepped onto the same stages where Brad Delp once sang "Don’t Look Back" and "Smokin’".Greg Hengler tells the story of a lifelong fan who went from customer service to concert stages, finding himself inside the very sound that shaped his youth. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  How Pinball Found Its Way Through Bans, Backrooms, and the Arcade Boom 01.10.2026 7min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, pinball’s story winds back to a quiet corner of European parlor culture, where small tabletop games offered a brief challenge to anyone willing to try their luck. Those early ideas eventually migrated to America, where the game weathered citywide crackdowns and the tests of time.As the tables grew more complex, the machines slipped into public rooms that gave them steady use and helped shape the early world of classic arcade games. Jeremy Saucier of The Strong Museum of Play lays out how that path unfolded and how pinball machines became the fixtures they are today. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  When Infertility Tests a Marriage 01.10.2026 10min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Stephen Rusiniak and his wife had always imagined a home filled with children. Then infertility turned that future into a painful uncertainty, and Stephen carried much of the blame himself. He knew he was the reason they were struggling to conceive, but shame and guilt made it difficult to say aloud what he was feeling. One summer night, sitting beside his wife, he finally found the courage to begin the conversation he had been avoiding.Originally published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Married Life, Stephen shares what happened when he stopped carrying that burden alone. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  The Story of America: Woodrow Wilson and the Great War [Ep. 43] 01.10.2026 27min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, when war erupted across Europe in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson promised to keep the United States out of it. For nearly three years, he tried. But German submarine warfare, the sinking of the Lusitania, and repeated attacks on American shipping steadily narrowed the country's options. By the spring of 1917, neutrality was no longer holding. On April 2, Wilson went before Congress and asked for a declaration of war.As part of our ongoing Story of Us—Story of America series, Dr. Bill McClay, author of Land of Hope, shares the story of how America entered World War I and how the conflict transformed life at home. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Why the Wild West Wasn’t So Wild After All 30.09.2026 10min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, a wagon train heading west might carry dozens of families, hundreds of animals, and almost no formal government. Before setting out, the travelers had to decide who was in charge, how disputes would be settled, and what would happen if someone broke the rules. So they wrote constitutions. In mining camps, prospectors did much the same thing, establishing claims, assembling juries, and creating their own systems of justice when there was no sheriff or courthouse nearby.For our Rule of Law series, P.J. Hill, rancher and co-author of The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier, shares how Americans built order on the frontier from the ground up. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  America's First Multi-Millionaire: John Jacob Astor 30.09.2026 27min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, John Jacob Astor arrived in America in 1784 with little money and an eye for opportunity. He began trading furs, built a commercial empire that stretched across the continent, and then made an even bigger bet on the future of New York City. As Manhattan expanded, the land Astor had quietly accumulated became extraordinarily valuable. By the time he died, the German immigrant who had started with nothing had become the richest man in America.Here’s the story of how an immigrant fur trader built the first great fortune in America. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  How Bananas Changed the World 30.09.2026 10min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Americans eat roughly 4.5 million tons of bananas every year. They’re cheap, plentiful, and so ordinary that most of us toss a bunch into the shopping cart without giving them a second thought. But getting that banana onto the supermarket shelf required ships, railroads, enormous corporations, and a global trade that helped shape American involvement in Central America. The fruit even gave us the term “banana republic” and one of America’s favorite desserts: the banana split.Our regular contributor, The History Guy, shares the surprisingly complicated history behind one of America’s favorite fruits. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  From $1,000 Down to 1,500 Employees: Bob Huff's American Dream 30.09.2026 27min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Bob Huff grew up outside Dayton, Ohio, in a three-room house without indoor plumbing, raised largely by a single mother who taught him that when something needed to be done, you went to work. Years later, that lesson followed Bob and his wife, Lynn, into a struggling 35-bed nursing home they bought with $1,000 borrowed for the down payment. There was no staff of executives waiting for them. Bob and Lynn cooked meals, washed dishes, painted walls, cared for patients, and did whatever else was necessary to keep the place running.Bob shares how that first gamble became a lifetime of buying troubled nursing homes and rebuilding them around a simple principle: care for every patient as you would your own mother or father. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Sidney Poitier: The Actor Who Broke Hollywood's Color Barrier 29.09.2026 38min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Sidney Poitier arrived in New York as a teenager with almost nothing. He sometimes slept on rooftops and in pay toilets, worked as a dishwasher, and could barely read. When he auditioned for the American Negro Theater, he was thrown out and told to go find work washing dishes. Instead, Poitier taught himself to read, changed the way he spoke by imitating voices on the radio, and learned how to act. Within a decade, he was one of Hollywood's biggest stars.Aram Goudsouzian, University of Memphis history professor and author of Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon, shares the story of how a poor boy from the Bahamas became a groundbreaking American actor. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Bruce Wang, All-American: The Chinese Cowboy with a Southern Accent 29.09.2026 20min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Bruce Wang grew up in southwestern China and came to America for college, eventually finding his way to West Texas. Then someone took him to a rodeo. Bruce was fascinated. Before long, he was wearing cowboy boots, watching Duck Dynasty, studying Southern accents, and learning everything he could about cattle and the people who raised them.Bruce shares how an international student who knew little about Texas found himself falling in love with cowboy culture and building a life in the cattle industry. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  The Surprisingly Strange History of Toilet Paper 29.09.2026 9min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, toilet paper might seem like a modern necessity, but the truth is messier—and much older. Long before perforated rolls and flushable comfort, people used whatever they could find: seashells, corn cobs, even stones.Our American Stories regular contributor, The History Guy, shares the story of what people used before toilet paper was invented—and how one man’s idea for “medicated paper” launched an industry no one wanted to talk about. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  How One Hatmaker Shaped the Image of the American West 29.09.2026 7min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, the cowboy hat didn’t come from Texas or tumbleweeds. Instead, it came from a modest Philadelphia workshop. John B. Stetson transformed durable felt and a wide brim into a practical design that would become one of the most iconic symbols of the American frontier. His creation topped the heads of Western legends like Buffalo Bill and Will Rogers, and later, Hollywood cowboys like John Wayne.Our own Reagan Habeeb shares the story of how a humble hatmaker helped shape the look and legacy of the American West. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Wally Amos: The Real Man Behind Famous Amos Cookies 28.09.2026 38min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, Wally Amos was a talent agent who worked with some of the biggest names in show business before a chocolate chip cookie changed his life. In 1975, with backing from friends including Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy, Amos opened a cookie shop on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. His Famous Amos cookies soon became a national sensation.His daughter, Sarah Amos, shares the remarkable and complicated story of her father, from his childhood in segregated Tallahassee, Florida, to building one of America's most recognizable brands, losing control of the company that bore his name, and finding purpose beyond it. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Ten Cent Beer Night: When Cheap Beer Sparked Chaos in MLB 28.09.2026 10min

  On this episode of Our American Stories, on June 4, 1974, the Cleveland Indians hosted the Texas Rangers in what began as a regular MLB game and ended as one of the most infamous promotions in baseball history. Known as “Ten Cent Beer Night,” the evening promised cheap drinks to boost attendance. What followed was a riot on the field, a forfeit, and a chapter of baseball history that still stuns fans today.The History Guy recounts the unbelievable story of the night chaos replaced baseball in Cleveland. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.