Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he became Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard, James Best lived a life filled with hardship, discipline, and creativity. Orphaned at three, shaped by his service with the Military Police in wartime Germany, and later admired for his work as the gentle lawman with Flash, the show’s basset hound, he carried a depth that never reached the screen. He appeared years earlier on The Andy Griffith Show as Jim Lindsey, yet it was his later work guiding young actors in Hollywood that revealed the heart of a man who understood struggle, humor, and the art of performance. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Lorna Jean sat down for her first Christmas dinner without her father, she tried to hold on to every tradition her family had built over the years. Only when she set turnips in front of her mother did an unexpected confession rise to the surface, revealing a tender truth about love, marriage, and the quiet ways families carry their stories. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, The History Guy explores the history of the Christmas tree, tracing how an evergreen that once carried ancient winter meaning became a central symbol in American Christmas traditions. He follows its path from early European customs to the first Christmas tree celebrations in the United States, and explains why the tree still feels essential to the season. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, "Wild Bill" Donovan was one of America’s most exciting and secretive generals—the man President Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy in World War II. “Wild” Bill was the director of the Office of Strategic Services (the country’s first national intelligence agency). He is known as the founding father of both the CIA and the military's Special Operations Forces, along with being credited as the father of psychological and cyber warfare. Here to tell the story is Douglas Waller. He is the author of the bestseller, Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the nineteenth century, a woman’s future could collapse overnight. If a husband died, disappeared, or fell into debt, she often had no legal claim to the house she lived in. The Homestead Law changed that. As historian Jean Stuntz tells it, the law created a small but powerful shield that prevented families from losing the one thing they could not live without. It was far from perfect, yet for countless women who had no voice in court and no rights under most state laws, this protection meant stability—and it offered a kind of dignity that had rarely been within reach. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Published: 1 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, much of what’s known about legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been kept between the goalposts. So, Greg Hengler sat down with Brett in his Hattiesburg, Mississippi, home for part five of our five-part series. In this conversation, the long-time Green Bay Packers star and Super Bowl champion reflects on the moments, challenges, and memories that shaped his life on and off the field. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Published: 1 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Nashville was known for neon lights and record labels, a small candy company introduced something new to the South. The Goo Goo Cluster blended chocolate with a handful of familiar ingredients, but the people behind it poured family history and hometown pride into every batch. As the years passed, the candy found its way into lunch pails, store counters, and eventually became an integral part of the city’s identity. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Published: 1 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Our American Stories listener Roger Latham grew up believing Santa was just a story—until one Christmas when someone unexpected changed everything. Roger shares the memory that helped him understand why kindness sometimes shows up in the plainest clothes and why he never forgot the man he came to call the real Santa. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Published: 1 December 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before superheroes saturated movie screens and Halloween aisles, they lived quietly on pulp pages shaped by the anxieties and ambitions of 20th-century America. Industrial cities were growing, families were struggling, and people craved symbols of justice that felt larger than life but still recognizably human. World War II historian and author of Super-History, Jeffrey K. Johnson, helps us understand why the superhero is, at heart, a distinctly American invention. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Published: 1 December 2025

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. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 30 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, the 1621 Thanksgiving has become one of the most recognizable stories in American culture, but many details we repeat today weren’t part of the original event. What actually happened was shaped by necessity, diplomacy, and the realities both groups faced. The latter holiday developed slowly as Americans looked for shared traditions. Robert Tracy McKenzie, a professor of history at Wheaton College, helps separate fact from myth and explains how the story evolved. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, each December, a small volunteer-run “store” opens for families who could use extra help during the holidays. Parents walk through the space like any other shop, choosing toys that fit their kids without paying a cent. Jonathan Mattox, co-chairman of The Christmas Store in Oxford, Mississippi, reflects on how this forty-plus-year tradition grew into one of the community’s most reliable holiday efforts. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when the Cabbage Patch Kids hit store shelves in 1983, parents felt a pull they hadn’t sensed from a toy before. Crowds formed before sunrise, and the pressure inside those shops grew in a way that felt unfamiliar for the holiday season. What started as a rush for one doll ended up reshaping the way Americans braced for the day after Thanksgiving. Toy historian Jonathan Alexandratos shares the story behind the craze and the shift it set in motion. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when a group of refugees from Bosnia arrived at her Iowa church, Joy Neal Kidney watched them step carefully into a world that felt nothing like the one they had escaped. One family in particular carried the quiet weariness of people shaped by war, and Joy’s family decided to give them something familiar to hold onto: a Thanksgiving dinner. Joy joins us to tell the story of one remarkable Thanksgiving. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he ever wore his trademark hat on the sidelines, Tom Landry was a young man trying to build a future during the hard years of the Depression. He joined the University of Texas football team, flew combat missions in World War Two, and returned home to begin a professional career that brought both recognition and pressure. But even as the wins piled up, he felt a quiet emptiness he could not ignore. When a friend invited him to a Bible study, he went reluctantly—and left with a sense of clarity he had been searching for since childhood. Here’s Tom Landry’s story of faith and football in his own words. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Heidi Viars spent her days juggling kids and household chaos, convinced she didn’t have room for much else. Her neighbor, Tom, kept mostly to himself after retiring from the Chicago police force, and the two lived side by side without knowing each other for years. Things shifted the day Heidi slowed down enough to notice he was slipping. One small act of kindness led to another until a simple check-in became something deeper. Their friendship grew in quiet moments, shared rides, and the kind of trust that forms when two people step into each other’s lives at just the right time. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, most Americans grew up thinking Thanksgiving had always fallen on the same Thursday in November. In Lincoln’s time, it was set on the last Thursday of November, and that habit settled in for generations. Then Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted the holiday earlier, hoping that a longer shopping season would lift a struggling Depression-era economy. The change split the country, with some governors following FDR and others keeping the old date, and for a few years, families marked Thanksgiving on different Thursdays depending on where they lived. Melanie Kirkpatrick walks us through why FDR and Thanksgiving became linked to a calendar fight and how Congress finally fixed the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Eisenhower’s name sits on the interstate signs, but Charles Zug wanted to understand whether he truly deserved that place in history. His work traces the creation of the Federal Highway Act and shows how the idea of national road building developed long before Eisenhower reached the White House. Zug explains the moment when the plan finally gained momentum and why the change reshaped daily life across the country. Zug is an Assistant Professor of Constitutional Democracy and Political Science at the University of Missouri, a Jack Miller Center fellow, and the author of Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Federal Highway Act. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early years of the war, the United States was preparing its soldiers and building an army that was not yet ready for a direct fight in Europe. Britain, still recovering from being pushed off the continent, knew it could not return to France without risking another disaster. Both nations wanted to stop Germany, yet neither could strike at its center. The opening they needed appeared in North Africa, a place that allowed them to enter the conflict on land while learning how to operate as partners. Years later, the late historian Stephen Ambrose would trace how this moment taught both nations what cooperation in wartime actually looked like. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Tom Waits has a voice and style that feel carved out of another world, yet many people first meet his work through other artists. One of his earliest songs, “I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You,” is a perfect example. It drifted from Waits’ small club beginnings to the radio through bands like 10,000 Maniacs, much like “Downtown Train,” “Ol’ 55,” and other Waits originals that became hits in someone else’s hands. In this Story of a Song, we explore how a simple tune about a missed chance at love became one of Waits’ most quietly enduring pieces. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 26 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Chuck Colson once operated at the center of Washington power as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon. Watergate brought that world crashing down, sending him into a federal prison and into a reckoning he never expected. In this final interview before his passing, Colson looks back on the scandal, the time behind bars, and the shift in faith that shaped the rest of his life. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Joy Neal Kidney has always loved Thanksgiving, and it makes perfect sense why. Her family was there at the first one. One branch survived a fall from the Mayflower in the middle of the ocean, and another began with a child who lost both parents before being taken in by a family whose story led straight to that early gathering. Joy shares why the holiday has always felt personal to her. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, for years, Heather McPherson knew only fragments about her great-uncle, a young officer who served with the 29th Division during World War II. His name was Ralph Ferguson, and he was among the Allied troops who landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day. He died soon after during the push inland, one soldier among many lost during the invasion of Europe. When Heather set out to learn more about him, the search grew into something larger. It took her through records of World War II losses, personal accounts from the Normandy landings, and finally to the riverbank where he fell. That personal journey shaped her calling. Today, she works as a curator who protects the stories of the men and women who served, including the one that set her own path in motion. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Abigail Adams was raising her children near Boston when the first major clash of the American Revolution exploded across the harbor. She brought seven-year-old John Quincy to the top of Penn Hill, and they watched the Battle of Bunker Hill in real time. They saw Charlestown burn, heard the cannon fire roll across the water, and felt the fear that swept through families as British soldiers clashed with the colonial army. Robert Morgan, author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America, explains how this moment fit into the growing American Revolution timeline and why the Bible became the source Abigail leaned on as the war for independence closed in on her home. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, but he did something far more lasting. He took a rough idea and turned it into a tool that ordinary families could afford and understand. Historian Richard Snow tells the story from its beginning in a small woodshed, where Ford worked through long nights trying to build a machine that could move under its own power. What followed reshaped American travel, industry, and daily life for years to come. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, by the final year of World War Two, American forces were closing in on Nazi Germany, and General George Patton stood at the center of that push. Historian Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Soul of Battle, discusses why Patton’s approach to leadership was shaped by his belief that the slow use of power in a conflict of that scale cost more lives than it saved. Hanson walks through Patton’s record in Europe, the end of the war, and the moral reasoning behind the choices he made when entire nations were at stake. We'd like to thank our generous sponsors, Hillsdale College, for this audio. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Jackie Robinson changed Major League Baseball, a group of long-haired ballplayers from a religious commune in Michigan stepped onto fields where others weren’t welcome. Formed at the House of David in Benton Harbor, the team barnstormed the country and played with anyone who loved the game, including talented Black players shut out of the majors. Their mix of skill, humor, and conviction made them one of the most recognizable teams of their era, and their willingness to stand beside excluded athletes helped shift attitudes long before the MLB integrated. Chris Siriano shares how this unlikely team left its mark on the history of baseball and on the early fight for equality. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, before most American women could vote, Belva Lockwood stepped into a legal world that never intended to make room for her. Born on a small farm in 1830, she pushed her way into the courtroom and became the first woman in the United States permitted to argue before the Supreme Court. Her work reshaped American law and challenged long-standing assumptions about who could stand before the bench. Along the way, she pressed for equal pay, fought for access to education, and even mounted two presidential campaigns—all while raising her daughter alone after tragedy struck her family. Janine Turner, creator of the musical Just Call Me Belva! and founder of Constituting America, shares the story of a woman who refused to accept the limits her country placed on her. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when the First Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia, the delegates arrived anxious about what Britain might do next and unsure of what they themselves should do. Before they argued or planned, they asked for prayer. The passage read that morning landed with surprising force and settled the room in a way no debate could have. Here to tell the story is Robert Morgan, author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America: Defining Moments That Shaped Our Enduring Foundation of Faith. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 24 November 2025

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. In our fifth installment, Mitch reflects on the faith that steadied him through decades behind bars. He's watched men lose themselves to anger, but he learned to hold fast to something larger. What kept him steady was the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the Book of Daniel, a reminder that faith holds even when freedom does not. The Bible became a map for endurance, guiding him toward forgiveness and the strength to keep teaching others to hope. Before ending the call, he turns to a favorite topic—football—and shares his prediction for the next Super Bowl. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 23 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, R.A. Dickey’s rise to a Cy Young Award made him the face of the modern knuckleball, but the story that shaped him started long before baseball noticed his talent. As a kid, he carried trauma he didn’t have words for and a silence that followed him well into adulthood. That silence eventually caught up to him, nearly costing him everything he had worked for. Dickey talks about the turning points that mattered most and how honesty, more than any pitch, gave him a way forward. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, before Jay Moore was known for his local history work, he was a grandson trying to finish something his grandmother could not. Her story of an infant buried long ago sent him looking for a cemetery she feared she would never see again. When he finally uncovered the grave, he helped give her the closure she had been missing for decades. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, at the center of JT Olson's Both Hands ministry is a straightforward mission: service and charity. Provide a widow with the repairs she needs and use that same project to help a family offset the cost of adoption. Volunteers spend a day painting, cleaning, repairing, and restoring, and donors support the effort, knowing every dollar moves a child closer to a permanent home. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the Beatles caused a stir, another British act crossed the Atlantic and changed American culture in its own quiet way. In 1868, a troupe of burlesque performers arrived onstage with a style that felt modern to a growing middle class and unsettling to the critics who expected theater to stay in its place. Our regular contributor, Ashley Hlebinsky, traces how this unlikely import managed to spark a small cultural shift. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, as a kid wandering the hallways of Miami’s fight scene, Patti Kingsbaker thought she had seen everything. Then she spotted Frank Sinatra walking in as her father prepared to referee a heavyweight title match. Patti’s chance at an autograph disappeared behind a wall of security, and the disappointment stayed with her until she finally wrote Sinatra a letter. What happened next blew her mind. Patti joins us to share this "knockout" Frank Sinatra story! Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, from its roots in African musical craftsmanship to its home in the American South, the kazoo instrument has traveled farther than most people realize. It even shapes the familiar kazoo sound behind every animal in Minecraft. Sarah Barnwell of the Kazoobie Kazoo Factory shares how this small, uniquely American-made instrument became a piece of musical history and why it still matters today. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, in this continuation of Ambrose’s work on June 6, 1944, the battle comes into view through the voices of the men who survived it. He follows their push off the beaches, their losses, and their small gains, and how those efforts turned the invasion into a foothold that could not be pushed back. Ambrose also highlights the Army’s “soldier suggestion box,” an unusual program that invited frontline troops to offer ideas for improving equipment and tactics, and how those insights shaped the fight for Normandy. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, behind every bottle of Coors Light and every iconic pour of Coors Banquet is a family whose identity shaped the company more than any product ever could. Long before Coors became a national name, the family built the brewery on principles they considered nonnegotiable: faith, education, and a quiet sense of service. These tenets guided the decisions that turned a small Colorado operation into Coors Brewing Co., a brand that would help define what American beer could be. Here’s their story. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the Statue of Liberty became a beacon for newcomers, it was simply a gift from France that struggled to find a purpose. To raise money for the statue's pedestal, Jewish American poet Emma Lazarus wrote a sonnet about the sculpture, never expecting it to be more than a throwaway donation. Years later, as anti-immigrant fervor spread through the country, her friend Georgina Schuyler returned to the poem and recognized the power in its plain plea for mercy. Professor Elizabeth Stone shares the story of how Schuyler quietly worked to place The New Colossus inside the statue's pedestal and, in doing so, changed the meaning of the monument itself. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 20 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1896, the United States Supreme Court delivered one of the most damaging rulings in its history when it upheld segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision cemented the idea of separate but equal and gave legal cover to the rise of Jim Crow laws across the country. More than a century later, Homer Plessy’s descendant, Keith Plessy, reflects on what that ruling cost generations of Americans. He also shares how the descendants of Plessy and Judge Ferguson have come together to confront the legacy of a landmark Supreme Court case that shaped civil rights for decades. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he became one of the most respected rodeo bullfighters in America, Leon Coffey was a father searching for a way to pay for a simple gift. Rodeos were familiar territory, but stepping into the arena as a rodeo clown was something else entirely. He found himself staring down bulls that outweighed him by a thousand pounds, learning to move with a kind of instinct that kept riders alive. His path carried him all the way to the Cowboy and Western Hall of Fame, and along the way, he helped shape the modern understanding of the rodeo clown, a protector as much as a performer. We'd like to thank the Oklahoma Cowboy and Western Hall of Fame for allowing us access to this audio. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Bob McLalan let his recently divorced father crash on his couch, he expected a few days of awkward conversation. Instead, his dad arrived with an empty key ring, a suitcase, and the stubborn confidence of a man who still saw himself in command. What followed was eighteen months of two Marines trying to share a small apartment and figure out what respect looks like when both men believe they have earned it. Bob’s story captures what living with parents can feel like when you are grown, independent, and suddenly navigating the weight of old habits and new circumstances. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, in May 1861, three enslaved men slipped across the James River to Fort Monroe, seeking protection from Union troops. Their arrival forced General Benjamin Butler to make a choice that would change the course of the war. Instead of returning them to bondage, he declared them “contraband of war,” setting off a chain reaction that pushed Abraham Lincoln, Congress, and the Union Army toward emancipation. Historian Kate Masur joins our regular contributor, Jon Elfner, to tell the story of how freedom began not with a proclamation, but with three men who refused to wait for it. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Alexander Hamilton helped shape the Constitution or design America’s financial system, he was a child on the island of Nevis, raised among the merchants and schools of a thriving Jewish community. For generations, historians assumed Hamilton’s faith was Christian, but recent research from historian Andrew Porwancher tells a different story. In The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton, Porwancher pieces together overlooked records from Hamilton’s Caribbean youth and reaches a surprising conclusion: Hamilton was most likely born and educated in a Jewish household. That possibility casts new light on one of the nation’s most complex founders. Porwancher joins us to tell the story of a particular court case where Hamilton stood up for Jews.  Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, most people know the Civil War began at Fort Sumter in 1861. Few remember how close it came to starting a decade earlier in New Mexico. In 1850, America stood at a breaking point. The war with Mexico had added vast new lands to the United States, and every mile of that territory brought the same question: would slavery spread west? As tensions rose, Texas laid claim to much of what is now New Mexico, and both sides began to talk about raising armies. For a brief moment, it looked as though the first shots of the Civil War would ring out in the desert. Gettysburg National Park Service Ranger Matt Atkinson explains how the Compromise of 1850, a fragile agreement over slavery, land, and power, held the Union together when the country was ready to break. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Shiloh Carozza’s father was diagnosed with brain cancer, her family’s days began to split in two: the life they had before, and the one that followed. He had been a teacher, a storyteller, the kind of father who could turn a drive into a lesson. As the disease took more from him, he still tried to give what he could. One night, he gathered his family and said, “You are my best investments.” They were simple words, but they carried a lifetime of meaning. In the months after his death, Shiloh learned how those words could steady her in the same way he once did. Shiloh joins us to tell his story. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, in June of 1984, President Ronald Reagan visited the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc to mark the 40th anniversary of D-Day. Before him stood the surviving Army Rangers who had scaled those cliffs under constant fire to help turn the tide of World War II. Often called the Great Communicator, he delivered one of his most powerful speeches, linking the courage of the men who fought at Normandy to the enduring promise of freedom. Listen to one of the defining moments of Reagan’s presidency and his moving tribute to those who fought in World War II. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, when Gina Ramsey moved her father into a memory care home, she thought she was watching him lose everything that made him who he was. Then he met May, a woman who had just turned one hundred and still laughed like a girl. Their friendship grew into a kind of love that gave both of them something to hold on to inside the fog of dementia. Gina Ramsey joins us to tell the story of the highs—and lows—of managing her father's dementia. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, on the morning of October 27, 2018, a quiet neighborhood in Pittsburgh turned into the scene of one of the deadliest attacks on a Jewish congregation in American history. Paul Kengor was driving with his wife when a text from their daughter appeared on his phone. She was hiding in a van just across the street from the Tree of Life Synagogue, where gunfire had erupted. What followed was an hour of panic and helpless waiting as they tried to reach her. Eleven worshippers were killed, and dozens of lives were forever changed. Paul shares how faith and fear collided that day when his family came within moments of tragedy. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2025

On this episode of Our American Stories, after years of arguing cases before the Supreme Court, Barry Levinson took a sharp turn. He left the law behind to open the world’s largest mustard museum, a place that celebrates more than 6,000 varieties of the condiment that changed his life. What started as a joke became one of America’s most unique tourist attractions, and a reminder that passion can take you places logic never would. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcribed - Published: 17 November 2025