Our American Stories

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 Territ

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

Thomas Mundy Peterson: The First Black Voter Under the 15th Amendment

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 abou

A.P. Giannini: The Italian American Who Bet on Everyday Americans

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, far

The Song My Father Remembered When He Forgot Everything Else

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." The

Winston Churchill: The Warrior Who Hated War

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 corresponde

The Home Depot Worker Who Became Boston’s Lead Singer

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, n

How Pinball Found Its Way Through Bans, Backrooms, and the Arcade Boom

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

When Infertility Tests a Marriage

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

The Story of America: Woodrow Wilson and the Great War [Ep. 43]

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 y

Why the Wild West Wasn’t So Wild After All

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 o

America's First Multi-Millionaire: John Jacob Astor

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 commerci

How Bananas Changed the World

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 bu

From $1,000 Down to 1,500 Employees: Bob Huff's American Dream

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 taugh

Sidney Poitier: The Actor Who Broke Hollywood's Color Barrier

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 a

Bruce Wang, All-American: The Chinese Cowboy with a Southern Accent

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

The Surprisingly Strange History of Toilet Paper

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 flusha

How One Hatmaker Shaped the Image of the American West

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 trans

Wally Amos: The Real Man Behind Famous Amos Cookies

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 h

Ten Cent Beer Night: When Cheap Beer Sparked Chaos in MLB

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