Our American Stories

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Our American Stories tells stories that aren’t being told. Positive stories about generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love. Stories about the past and present. And stories about ordinary Americans who do extraordinary things each and every day. Stories from our listeners about their lives. And their history. In that pursuit, we hope we’ll be a place where listeners can refresh their spirit, and be inspired by our stories.

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294 episodes
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English

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Yesterday · 39 min
Halloween: The Strange and Storied History of an American Holiday
On this episode of Our American Stories, every October, porches glow with carved pumpkins and streets fill with costumed children, but the roots of Halloween reach much deeper than candy and costumes. The holiday began as All Hallows’ Eve, a night of remembrance that blended Christian and Celtic traditions. When Irish and Scottish immigrants arrived in the United States, they carried those customs with them, reshaping the celebration into something distinctly American. Historians Lesley Bannatyne and Lisa Morton explain how an ancient ritual became a modern holiday; and why Halloween in America continues to reflect both superstition and joy. Lesley Bannatyne is the author of Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History, and Lisa Morton is the author of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Friday · 39 min
A Century of Horror: From Nosferatu to the Modern Scare
On this episode of Our American Stories, for more than a century, horror movies have found new and terrifying ways to keep us on the edge of our seats. It began with the eerie shadows of German Expressionism and the unforgettable monsters of Universal’s Dracula and Frankenstein. Then came Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, the supernatural terror of The Exorcist, the slasher craze of the 1970s and 1980s, and eventually the low-budget phenomenon of The Blair Witch Project. Just in time for Halloween, YouTube creator Matt Castro takes us through the history of horror movies. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Friday · 39 min
Louis Prima: The Italian-American Showman Who Made America Swing
On this episode of Our American Stories, Louis Prima never seemed to play a song so much as throw a party. It was a style he came by naturally, growing up among the Sicilian families, brass bands, and jazz funerals of New Orleans, with the sound of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet ringing in his ears. By the 1930s, Prima had taken that New Orleans spirit to the nightclubs of New York’s 52nd Street. He blew his horn, cracked jokes, worked the crowd, and wrote a song called “Sing, Sing, Sing” that would become one of the defining hits of the swing era. But Prima had plenty more music in him. He proudly celebrated his Italian-American roots during World War II, found a whole new audience in Las Vegas alongside Keely Smith and Sam Butera, and eventually became the unforgettable voice of King Louie in The Jungle Book. Our own Greg Hengler shares the life story of a man who spent five decades making America laugh, sing, and dance. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Thursday · 10 min
How a Sick Child Inspired the Jacuzzi
On this episode of Our American Stories, most of us know the name Jacuzzi. We’ve seen it on hot tubs, bathtubs, and maybe even enjoyed a soak in one ourselves. But behind that familiar name is the remarkable story of an Italian immigrant family, two brothers who came to America in 1907, and a long history of inventions that had nothing to do with hot tubs. The Jacuzzis built airplanes, developed pumps for farmers, and weathered personal tragedies before arriving at the invention that would make their family name famous. Our own Montie Montgomery tells the story of Candido Jacuzzi and his young son Kenneth, who suffered from severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. When doctors recommended hydrotherapy to ease the boy’s pain, Candido turned to what he knew best: pumps. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Thursday · 9 min
The British Outcast Who Founded the Smithsonian
On this episode of Our American Stories, James Smithson was born into wealth but denied a name. As the illegitimate son of the Duke of Northumberland, he spent his life pursuing science instead of status, studying minerals and publishing quietly across Europe. In his will, Smithson made a choice no one expected: he left his fortune to the United States, a nation he had never visited, with the condition that it be used “to increase and diffuse knowledge.” That gift created the Smithsonian Institution, a collection that would grow into the world’s largest museum complex. Wyatt Hensley, a history education major at the University of Pittsburgh and a two-time winner of Constituting America’s We the Future contest, shares the story. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Thursday · 9 min
Faith, Forgiveness, and Healing After Years of Abuse
On this episode of Our American Stories, as a teenager on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, Valerie Habeeb endured years of sexual abuse by an older man who exploited the absence of her father and the vulnerability she carried with her. She kept what happened secret for years, carrying shame, anger, and pain into adulthood even as the people around her believed she had everything together. Lee Habeeb shares his wife’s journey of faith and forgiveness, from reconciling with her mother and the father who had abandoned her to eventually forgiving the man who abused her. Through her Christian faith, Valerie came to believe that forgiveness did not erase the past, but freed her from being ruled by it. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Thursday · 7 min
My Mom Told Me Not to Come Home Until I Had a Job
On this episode of Our American Stories, at 16, Russ Jones planned to spend his summer sleeping in. His mother had other ideas. One morning in 1976, she pulled off the covers and told him she did not want to see him again until he had found a job. After spending the day applying all over Kansas City, Russ finally walked into the Carriage Club and landed a job as a busboy. Russ reflects on the first job that helped shape the way he has approached work ever since. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Thursday · 38 min
Louis Zamperini's Story—in His Own Words
On this episode of Our American Stories, Olympian, World War II airman, Pacific castaway, and prisoner of war, Louis Zamperini lived one of the most extraordinary lives in American history. In this rare recording, he tells his own remarkable story—from his troubled childhood and the 1936 Berlin Olympics to surviving 47 days adrift at sea, enduring brutal captivity in Japan, and ultimately finding peace through forgiveness and faith. While Unbroken introduced millions to Zamperini's story, some of its most powerful chapters were left out of the film. You'll hear them here—from Louis himself. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Wednesday · 31 min
From Mafia to Ministry: Robert Borelli’s Story
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 Brooklyn, he set out to become a gangster, drawn to the respect, money, and status he saw around him. Instead, that path led him in and out of prison, and eventually to rock bottom. But inside a jail cell, at his lowest point, Borelli cried out to God for change. What followed was a transformation that gave him a new purpose in life, one rooted in faith and service to others. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Wednesday · 7 min
Elena Kagan Remembers Antonin Scalia: The Justice Who Changed Legal Thinking
On this episode of Our American Stories, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and Antonin Scalia often approached the Constitution from very different directions, but Kagan admired his intellect, his writing, and the enormous influence he had on American law. Speaking at the dedication of George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, Kagan reflects on Scalia’s role in advancing textualism and originalism, his gift for challenging students, and the wit and confidence that made his opinions impossible to ignore. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Wednesday · 39 min
Darryl Strawberry: From Baseball Stardom to a Life Redeemed
On this episode of Our American Stories, Darryl Strawberry reached the heights of Major League Baseball, but success could not heal the wounds he carried from childhood. Raised with an abusive, alcoholic father, Strawberry says rejection and anger helped drive him toward greatness on the field while leaving him vulnerable to addiction, broken relationships, and a life that eventually spiraled far beyond his control. Strawberry shares the story of how faith changed the course of his life, how his wife Tracy challenged him to stop defining himself by the uniform he once wore, and how forgiveness finally brought him face-to-face with the father who had hurt him most. Darryl's book is Turn Your Season Around: How God Transforms Your Life, be sure to check it out! Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Tuesday · 39 min
The Real Doc Holliday Behind the Tombstone Legend
On this episode of Our American Stories, Doc Holliday is one of the most famous figures of the American Old West, known for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his role in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Movies and television have turned him into a legend, but the real Doc Holliday was far more complicated than the popular portrayals suggest. Historian Roger McGrath joins us to tell the true story of John Henry “Doc” Holliday—the Southern dentist who became a gambler, gunslinger, and enduring figure of frontier history. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Tuesday · 31 min
John Cazale: The Greatest Actor You Don't Know
On this episode of Our American Stories, John Cazale never became a movie star. He never received an Academy Award nomination, and his film career lasted only six years. Yet Al Pacino considered him an acting idol, Meryl Streep fell in love with him, and every one of the five films he appeared in was nominated for Best Picture. Jonjo Powers, author of A Small Perfection: John Cazale and the Art of Acting, shares the remarkable story of the man who brought Fredo Corleone to life, made some of Hollywood's greatest actors better, and died at just 42 years old with a nearly perfect body of work behind him. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Tuesday · 7 min
It’s Me or the Guest: Pat Boone’s Stand Against Apartheid for Harry Belafonte
On this episode of Our American Stories, Pat Boone was at the height of his career when television executives told him to cancel a guest. That guest was Harry Belafonte, the singer whose hit “Day-O” had made him famous around the world. Boone was warned that audiences in some parts of the country wouldn’t accept a Black artist on stage beside him. His answer was simple: if Belafonte wasn’t welcome, neither was he. Boone recalls the night he chose integrity over career security and why that moment meant more than the show itself. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Monday · 20 min
The DiMaggio Brothers: Three Ballplayers, One American Dream
On this episode of Our American Stories, Joe DiMaggio became an American icon, but he was only one of three brothers who made it to the major leagues. Raised in a large Italian immigrant family near San Francisco, Vince, Joe, and Dom DiMaggio each defied their father’s hopes that they would become fishermen and instead chased a future in baseball. Four-time New York Times bestselling author Tom Clavin, author of The DiMaggios: Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream, shares the story of how Vince opened the door, Joe became a Yankees legend, and Dom carved out an All-Star career with the Boston Red Sox. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Monday · 9 min
My Dad Never Made Much Money, But He Was a Very Wealthy Man
On this episode of Our American Stories, Chet Leuliette came home from World War II with little money and no high school diploma, but with a determination to build a better life for his family. He sold potato chips, raised his son in a home where money was often scarce, and quietly spent his life helping the people around him. Former automotive executive Tim Leuliette remembers the father who would give up his own lunch so his son could buy the Weekly Reader, helped a child with birth defects receive treatment at a Shriners hospital, and never believed his own wartime wounds merited a Purple Heart when so many of his fellow soldiers had suffered worse. Chet never made more than $20,000 a year, but to Tim, he was one of the wealthiest men he ever knew. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Monday · 7 min
When I First Saw a Satellite Cross the Night Sky
On this episode of Our American Stories, Richard Muniz was not yet five years old when heavy rain stranded his family overnight at an old railroad station in the mountains of northern New Mexico. When the storm finally cleared, everyone stepped outside beneath a sky crowded with stars to watch for Echo, one of America’s earliest communications satellites. Richard remembers seeing that tiny point of light move silently across the heavens, while his father explained that some of the starlight above them had begun its journey before Richard was born. In that moment, a little boy’s world suddenly became much bigger, and decades later, the sight of a satellite can still bring him back to that night. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Monday · 30 min
The Real Al Capone: Prohibition, Power, and the Making of a Legend
On this episode of Our American Stories, Al Capone became the most famous gangster in America, but Laurence Bergreen argues that his rise would have been almost unimaginable without Prohibition. Born to an Italian immigrant family in Brooklyn, Capone found his opportunity in the vast underground economy created when the government outlawed alcohol, eventually rising to the top of Chicago’s criminal world while cultivating the public image of a businessman and local benefactor. Bergreen, author of Capone: The Man and the Era, separates the man from the legend, tracing Capone’s rise, his conviction for tax evasion, his imprisonment at Alcatraz, and the neurosyphilis that devastated his health. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Monday · 7 min
When One Ozarks County Declared Itself the Fifty-First State
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the spring of 1961, McDonald County opened its highway map and discovered that it had simply vanished. The resort towns that depended on summer travelers were nowhere to be found, and what looked like a clerical mistake carried real consequences for the people who lived there. County leaders announced that McDonald County would symbolically secede from Missouri until someone paid attention. Dwight Pogue was a teenager then, watching his neighbors create a makeshift border patrol, hand out mock visas, and treat the whole effort as both a stand and a celebration. Looking back, he remembers how a small county briefly turned itself into its own territory and how that unlikely season brought the community together in a way no one expected. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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October 23 · 10 min
The Debate Over Slavery That Changed John Quincy Adams
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1819, as the Missouri Crisis stirred national debate over slavery and westward expansion, a private conversation between John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun became something much larger. Calhoun defended slavery as a necessary institution. Adams left the conversation deeply shaken and newly committed to abolition. This moment would fuel his work after the presidency, where he became a leading voice against the Gag Rule and argued for the freedom of the Amistad captives. Historians James Traub and Dr. Robert Elder share how a single exchange shaped one of the most important abolitionist legacies in American politics. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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