American History Tellers

Latest Episodes:

Greely Arctic Expedition | The Longest Winter | 3 Nov 11, 2026

Show notes

By the fall of 1883, Lieutenant Adolphus Greely and his team had abandoned the safety of their fort on the shores of Lady Franklin Bay and begun a treacherous journey roughly 250 miles south down Ellesmere Island’s coast to Cape Sabine. There, Greely hoped a relief ship would be waiting for them. Failing that, he expected there to be caches of supplies that had been left to help his team survive the winter. But after weeks of navigating through dangerous ice floes, the men arrived at their destination only to face the crushing realization that they would have to endure another long Arctic winter with only minimal food and shelter.

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LISTEN NOW: The First Wife Nov 09, 2026

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Many listened to the Dirty John podcast, which introduced the world to John Meehan, a dangerous serial predator who infiltrates the life of Debra Newell and ultimately dies at the hand of her daughter, Terra. But there was an overlooked story that’s now being told, in full, for the first time.
In The First Wife: John Meehan’s Reign of Terror, Tonia Bales recounts her harrowing experiences as John’s wife of 10 years and the mother of their daughters, Emily and Abby. Highlighting new details and revelations, Tonia shares the abuse she suffered from the man she once believed to be her soulmate, but who ultimately revealed himself as a coercive and controlling terrorist. Through exclusive archival materials and all-new interviews with the people who knew her and John best, uncovering long-held secrets and including perspective from their daughters, Tonia embarks on a re-investigation of the man she thought she knew. The multiple bombshells she unearths include one that will change her and her daughters’ lives forever.
Listen now: HERE
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Greely Arctic Expedition | No Relief | 2 Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

In the late summer of 1882, it became clear to Lieutenant Adolphus Greely and his men that the ship scheduled to bring them additional supplies was not going to arrive before the seas froze and became impenetrable. As winter approached, the men hunkered down in their shelter, but tensions grew between them as they endured months of darkness. They held out hope for another ship in the summer of 1883, but little did they know that disaster had struck the crew that was sent to aid them. When the ship didn’t arrive by August, Greely faced a difficult decision to try to keep his men alive.

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Greely Arctic Expedition | Farthest North | 1 Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

In 1881, Army Lieutenant Adolphus Greely embarked with a team of men on a dangerous and ambitious journey over 1,000 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Their official mission was to collect scientific data on the Arctic climate, but Greely also harbored plans to break the record for reaching farther north than any human in recorded history. To prepare, Greely studied previous Arctic expeditions extensively and made meticulous plans to keep his men safe. But after arriving at their base, the remote location and harsh Arctic conditions soon made it clear that their mission would be more difficult than they imagined.

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Listen Now— Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe Oct 26, 2026

Show notes

A Hollywood stuntwoman turned personal injury attorney. A handsome disbarred lawyer with a dark past. And an elaborate scheme that leads to murder.

Vanessa Motta gives up a career of fake car crashes for real ones. But her law career in New Orleans gets off to a rocky start — until she meets Sean Alfortish, a charming man who offers her the perfect space for her law office. Vanessa and Sean fall hard for each other, and as a former lawyer himself, Sean becomes her mentor. So, what if he's done some prison time for fraud?

When Sean introduces Vanessa to one of the city's most prolific case runners, Cornelius Garrison, the money starts rolling in. Cornelius brings her a steady stream of accident victims looking to sue. There's just one problem: the accidents aren't real. And once the secret gets out, someone will have to pay.

Reported and hosted by Mitch Moxley, Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe is a six-part series about greed, betrayal, and who gets thrown under the bus when everything is on the line.

Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible App or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Listen now: HERE

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Ellis Island | Hope and Tears | 4 Oct 21, 2026

Show notes

More than 70 years have passed since ferries of immigrants arrived at Ellis Island. But the site is still alive with the memories of all those who entered full of hope for the future — and anxious to become Americans. In this episode, Lindsay is joined by two people who work at the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation. Stephen Lean is the director of the Records Discovery Center, and Riley Dominianni is a research assistant there. Both have found that the archives can be surprisingly personal.

You can search for your family in the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation’s database, the Arrival Records Collection, which contains records for Ellis island, but also for other points of entry across the U.S.— including Massachusetts, Florida, Hawaii, California, and more.

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Ellis Island | Alien Enemies | 3 Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

In the immediate aftermath of America’s entry into World War I, federal agents began rounding up hundreds of German nationals and detaining them at Ellis Island, designating them as “alien enemies.” After the war, anti-immigrant sentiment intensified as eugenic theories of racial hierarchy gained popularity. By the 1920s, Americans were willing to accept sweeping changes to the nation’s immigration laws, with the introduction of quotas setting numerical limits on new arrivals. As the country closed the door on immigrants, Ellis Island was transformed into a facility for detention and deportation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Listen Now: Audible True Crime – Ghost Story Oct 12, 2026

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Audible True Crime is a dedicated podcast feed where we bring you the best podcasts in true crime, with episodes dropping every single week.

Just in time for spooky season, we’re releasing a show called Ghost Story, a series about a hidden family secret, unexplainable events and jaw-dropping coincidences.Tristan Redman doesn’t believe in ghosts. But weird things happened in his teenage bedroom. And when he discovers later that occupants of his family home have seen the ghost of a faceless woman, he’s intrigued. Because it just so happens that his wife’s great grandmother, Naomi Dancy, was murdered in the house next door…killed by two gunshots to the face.

Audible subscribers can binge all episodes on Audible True Crime early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible App or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Listen Now: HERE

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Ellis Island | The Human Tide | 2 Oct 07, 2026

Show notes

In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt vowed to crack down on the corruption and mistreatment that plagued Ellis Island. He appointed William Williams as the new Commissioner of Immigration and tasked him with cleaning up the Immigration Service. But Williams’ strict interpretations of federal immigration law drew criticism from German American and Jewish community leaders. As immigration to the United States reached an all-time peak, Ellis Island became the primary battleground in a fierce national debate over what it meant to become American. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ellis Island | Yearning to Breathe Free | 1 Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

In the 19th century, economic turmoil, political unrest, and religious persecution drove record numbers of Europeans to American shores — making New York City the busiest port of entry. But new immigrants faced a dizzying array of conmen and thieves eager to prey on their confusion. In 1892, the U.S. government reined in the chaos by establishing a federal immigration depot on Ellis Island in New York Harbor. Over the next three decades, a small group of government inspectors would confront one of the largest mass migrations in the history of the world. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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