Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, candy corn, black licorice, and circus peanuts have been on American shelves for generations, and whether you love them or hate them, they're here to stay. But their longevity is more curious than their questionable (or delicious!) taste.

Each came from a different corner of early candy history, shaped by manufacturing experiments and changing ideas about what exactly a treat should be. The ...

On this episode of Our American Stories, the Allied invasion of Normandy depended on more than military force. It required convincing Germany that the real attack would land somewhere else, and that task fell to one man working deep inside a world of fragile alliances and invented identities.

Juan Pujol García, known to British intelligence as Agent Garbo, built an entire network of fictitious sources and delivered reports s...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when crowds wandered through Coney Island in the early twentieth century, they expected oddities, tricks, and performers who lived on the edge of spectacle. What they did not expect were rows of premature infants resting inside newly designed infant incubators. The exhibit belonged to Dr. Martin Couney, a man who operated far from traditional medical circles yet devoted his life to caring fo...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jim Johnson has a habit of meeting people who stay with him long after the moment has passed. Everett Motl was one of those people—the kind you remember because something about their presence settles in and refuses to fade. What began as a small acquaintance turned into a story Johnson now carries into the holiday season, a reminder that the most meaningful Christmas stories often...

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.

Today’s conversation starts with a different kind of introduction. Lee brings his friend Bo onto the line, h...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jimmy Hawkins began acting when television was still defining itself, moving from show to show with the ease of a child who learned the business early. Viewers eventually recognized him from programs that shaped mid-century entertainment, but one of his first roles connected him to a film that would outgrow its modest beginnings. In 1946, Hawkins played Tommy Bailey in It’s a...

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 helpe...

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early 1920s, WSM filled its schedule with whatever talent it could gather, and one night a fiddler stepped into the studio with a tune that settled easily across the airwaves. The reaction from listeners changed the station’s direction. The music felt local in the best sense of the word, and the signal carried it into homes that had never heard anything like it. Those moments re...

On this episode of Our American Stories, what does it mean when a highway that no longer exists still carries more recognition than the roads that replaced it? Route 66 was born out of a practical need to move people across long distances, yet it quickly grew into something else entirely. Its motels, garages, and storefronts formed a line of small anchors through the heart of the country, each one shaping the rhythm of life along t...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice of his guide to understanding the baffling mini-mysteries of the English language—this time diving into how the phrases "in a nutshell" and "in the doghouse" came to be. His book, Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions and Fun Phrases, is a must-read. Be sure to check it out!

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On this episode of Our American Stories, long before travelers drove the Pike’s Peak Highway or stood at the summit that rises more than fourteen thousand feet above Colorado, a determined young officer named Zebulon Pike set out to understand the far edge of a country still finding its shape. Craig Du Mez of the Grateful Nation Project traces how Pike’s early failures, his encounters with Spanish authorities, and his l...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Stephen Ambrose spent his life showing readers that the heart of history lives in the people who shape it. His gift for storytelling made complex events feel personal, and that gift continues to resonate long after his passing in 2002. Thanks to the stewardship of his estate, his work can now be heard here at Our American Stories. In this installment of his D-Day series, Ambrose explore...

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Hollywood gave the Lone Ranger his mask and his horse, the Old West was full of riders and lawmen whose real stories were far more compelling. The History Guy shares the life of Bass Reeves, an African American Deputy U.S. Marshal who kept order across a violent and rapidly changing frontier. His work as a tracker and lawman became part of the folklore that later reached radio, c...

On this episode of Our American Stories, when the war in Afghanistan was still unfolding, many Americans only saw brief clips on the news. Peter Braxton lived it at twenty-two years old. His first combat mission came with no slow introduction. He lifted off, crossed into Afghan airspace, and heard the words that still stay with him:

“You are getting shot at.”

His story offers a grounded look at the human side of the Afg...

On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the familiar kettles and bell ringers appeared outside stores around Christmastime, The Salvation Army began as a small ministry founded by William and Catherine Booth, two people determined to reach those who had nowhere else to turn. With help from Vision Video and their documentary Our People: The Story of William and Catherine Booth, we look back at the movement’s earli...

On this episode of Our American Stories, viewers knew Boss Hogg as the blustering figure in The Dukes of Hazzard, yet the man behind that role, Sorrell Booke, carried a life shaped by intellect, training, and service. Nick Ragone revisits the actor’s work and reveals how much more existed beneath the familiar white suit, the quick temper, and the laughter that filled Hazzard County.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, when you dial 911 in a medical emergency, you are using a system that did not always exist. Identical twins Alfred and Blair Sadler, one a physician and one a lawyer, worked with emergency medical services pioneers to shape modern EMTs, paramedics, and early 911 call centers, so that trained responders could reach people faster and save more lives. Here’s Alfred and Blair Sadler with t...

On this episode of Our American Stories, more than three hundred sets of brothers have played Major League Baseball, yet few have left a mark like the DiMaggio brothers. In this segment, author Tom Clavin tells the family story behind Joe DiMaggio, his older brother Vince, and his younger brother Dom DiMaggio, tracing their journey from a fisherman’s household in San Francisco to All-Star outfields in New York and Boston. Alo...

On this episode of Our American Stories, Henry G. Plitt returned from WWII as a hero to many Americans, and his story carried special meaning for Jewish American soldiers in WWII who understood exactly what he had been fighting against. He was among the first men to land in Holland during Operation Market Garden and had already jumped into Normandy as a parachuting pathfinder. His wartime record became even more significant when he...