Our American Stories

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Latest Episodes:

Sunday Mornings with Big Mitch: Ep. 7 Dec 07, 2025

Show notes

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, hoping Mitch can help him think through a difficult decision. Mitch listens and responds with a patience he’s earned over decades of hard-learned experience.

Speaking with Bo brings him back to the person who first taught him to talk to others with that kind of steadiness. He remembers Sister Lillian, the woman who encouraged him to take responsibility for his actions and to pay close attention to how his choices affected those around him. Her death from breast cancer in 2015 left a quiet ache, and Mitch talks about how her influence continues to shape him even now.

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Inside It’s a Wonderful Life with Actor Jimmy Hawkins Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

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 Wonderful Life, joining a production that made little noise on release and gained its reputation only after years of quiet rediscovery.

Jimmy Hawkins looks back on that experience and the work that surrounded it, offering a grounded view of how the film came together and how the film found its place in American culture.

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How Pinball Found Its Way Through Bans, Backrooms, and the Arcade Boom Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

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 helped shape the early world of classic arcade games. Jeremy Saucier of The Strong Museum of Play lays out how that path unfolded and how pinball machines became the fixtures they are today.

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How the Opry Gave Country Music a National Voice Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

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 revealed how quickly a simple performance could influence the American music history taking shape around the radio.

The Grand Ole Opry emerged within that momentum, and Nashville followed along with the shift. The influence created a bridge between regional tradition and the broader landscape of country-western music, giving the early threads of country-music origins a steady place to land. Craig Havighurst, author of Musicality for Modern Humans, joins us with a look into how WSM and the Opry reshaped Nashville’s music history and left a mark that continues to guide the way the city sounds today.

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How Route 66 Became the World’s Most Famous Highway Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

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 the pavement. Parts of old Route 66 have disappeared, but the imprint remains. Historian Jim Hinckley traces the winding tale of Route 66’s history, from its early promise to its quiet revival.

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“In a Nutshell” & “In the Doghouse” and the Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

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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The Story of Zebulon Pike: The Namesake of Colorado’s Most Famous Mountain Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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 later military service shaped the story behind the peak that still carries his name.

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Stephen Ambrose on Patton’s Fight to Win D-Day Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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 explores the decisive role General George Patton played in the push across Europe and explains how Patton’s leadership helped turn momentum into victory.

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The Forgotten Black Lawman Who Inspired the Lone Ranger — Bass Reeves Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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, comics, and television.

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“You’re Getting Shot At” — The Story of My First Combat Mission in Afghanistan Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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 Afghanistan war, the stress of long missions, and the weight carried by the United States military members who served there.

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