Covering every hamlet and precinct in America, big and small, the stories span arts and sports, business and history, innovation and adventure, generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love, past and present. In short, Our American Stories tells the story of America to Americans.
About Lee Habeeb
Lee Habeeb co-founded Laura Ingraham’s national radio show in 2001, moved to Salem Media Group in 2008 as Vice President of Content overseeing their nationally syndicated lineup, and launched Our American Stories in 2016. He is a University of Virginia School of Law graduate, and writes a weekly column for Newsweek.
For more information, please visit ouramericanstories.com.
"I Came to New York City Dead": Sarah Gonzalez's Faith Story
The Magna Carta at Fort Knox: A Forgotten WWII Story
On this episode of Our American Stories, during World War II, U.S. leaders feared German bombers could strike American soil. To protect the nation’s most important treasures, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and the Magna Carta, Britain’s most important document, which was on loan at the time, were secretly moved to Fort Knox.
Steve Puleo, author of American Treasures, shares the remarkable story of how the documents that shaped freedom in both England and America were safeguarded during one of history’s darkest hours. We'd like to thank the U.S. National Archives for allowing us access to this audio.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Steve Jobs and the iPhone That Almost Wasn't
On this episode of Our American Stories, on January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs stepped onto the stage at Macworld and unveiled a device that would forever change the way we communicate. To the audience, it looked like a flawless presentation. Behind the scenes, however, Apple engineers were bracing for disaster. The iPhone prototype was so fragile that Jobs had to follow a carefully rehearsed sequence of demonstrations, secretly switching between multiple devices to keep the presentation from crashing.
Our own Greg Hengler shares the remarkable story behind one of the greatest product launches in business history.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Life at NASA From the Lunar Rover to the Space Shuttle
On this episode of Our American Stories, when Apollo astronauts drove across the Moon, Craig Sumner had already spent years helping make that possible. As a young engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, he worked on the Lunar Roving Vehicle, solving the kinds of problems that come with designing a car for a place where no one had ever driven before. He later left NASA to become a military pilot, then returned for Skylab and the Space Shuttle program, eventually serving as deputy project manager for the Shuttle's External Tank.
Sumner shares his personal story of what it was like to build America's space program alongside astronauts such as John Young, Fred Haise, and Alan Shepard.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The 5-Foot Bookshelf That Changed How America Thinks About Education
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early 1900s, Harvard President Charles W. Eliot made a remarkable claim: with just 15 minutes of reading a day, a person could give himself the equivalent of a liberal education from a shelf of books only five feet long. Publisher P. F. Collier challenged him to prove it.
Our American Stories regular contributor John Elfner and historian Robert Johnston tell how Eliot's idea became the Harvard Classics, a 50-volume collection that brought Plato, Shakespeare, Saint Augustine, and other great writers into hundreds of thousands of American homes at a time when few Americans could attend college.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Cemetery Is a History Book Written in Stone
On this episode of Our American Stories, on a summer walk through one of Antrim, New Hampshire's old public cemeteries, Bill Bryk begins reading the stones. A Revolutionary War militiaman rests near a Civil War cavalryman. Veterans of two world wars lie beneath familiar family names. Some markers tell long stories. Others offer only a few words, including one man's simple epitaph: “an honest man.”
Bill, who helps care for Antrim's four public cemeteries, reflects on the lives gathered there and the small ways a town continues to remember them. A name cut into stone, a flag placed beside a veteran, a relative stopping by years later. The dead may be gone, but in places like these, their stories have not disappeared.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Kasserine Pass and the Harsh Reality of America’s First Defeat in WWII
On this episode of Our American Stories, in February 1943, American soldiers met the German Army at Kasserine Pass in North Africa and discovered just how unprepared they were for the war ahead. Units became separated, communications failed, intelligence broke down, and inexperienced commanders struggled to respond as German forces tore through American positions. The defeat was humiliating, costly, and impossible to ignore.
The late historian Stephen Ambrose shares how the defeat at Kasserine forced Dwight D. Eisenhower to make difficult changes as the Americans learned how to fight a very different kind of war.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Rodney Dangerfield Finally Got Some Respect
On this episode of Our American Stories, before he was Rodney Dangerfield, he was Jacob Cohen, then Jack Roy, a struggling comedian who quit show business, sold aluminum siding, raised a family, and spent years filling a duffel bag with jokes. When he returned to the stage in his 40s, a new name, a black suit and red tie, and one unforgettable complaint finally made him a star: "I don't get no respect."
Our American Stories producer Greg Hengler tells the life of Rodney Dangerfield, from a lonely childhood and decades of rejection to Johnny Carson, "Caddyshack," and "Back to School," and how one of America's most beloved comedians used his success to open doors for the next generation of comics.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bass Reeves: The Former Slave Who Tamed the Wild West
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/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What Lee Iacocca and Henry Ford II Taught a 23-Year-Old Newbie
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/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.