Our American Stories

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Latest Episodes:

When Pride Still Mattered: The Life of Vince Lombardi Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, more than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. David Maraniss (author of "When Pride Still Mattered"), captures all of Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.

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City Grazing: The Landscape Management Company Powered by Goats Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, Anne Clare tells the story of a nurse who served in the Philippines during World War II, and shares the experience that she and others like her went through after the Japanese invasion there. Genevieve Church, the third "Goat Lady of San Francisco", is executive director of City Grazing. She shares about how this sustainable land management and fire prevention non-profit organization came to be. At the start of the 1948 election cycle, President Truman was down and out in the polls. His opponent, Thomas Dewey, turned down an invitation to appear at the National Plowing Match in Dexter, Iowa. Truman would instead go and eventually win the state and another term in office.

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Time Codes:

00:00 - The WWII Nurses who Cared for their Fellow POWs

10:00 - City Grazing: The Landscape Management Company Powered by Goats

35:00 - How the National Plowing Match in Iowa Won Truman the Election

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The ONLY Time You Want Just One Lawyer in Your Town Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, what started as a quest to find black fans for a brother-in-law morphed into a lifelong mission to find anything small, electric, and an appliance. Here's the story of "The World's Largest Small Electrical Appliance Museum" in Missouri, and the man behind it all. Some people don’t have the highest view of lawyers, but not every lawyer is an ambulance chaser. At least, Bill Bryk isn't. Stephen Ambrose tells us a very unlikely World War II story about George McGovern, the liberal, antiwar Democratic presidential candidate from South Dakota who was soundly defeated by President Nixon in the 1972 election.

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Time Codes:

00:00 - The Largest Small Electrical Appliance Museum in the World

23:00 - Bill Bryk Puts His Lawyering Skills to Good Use

35:00 - The Unlikely WWII B-24 Combat Pilot-Hero

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"You Can Change Your Story": Why I Wrote a Book About the Death of My Mother Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, David LaBelle's last memory of his mother was seeing her washed away in a raging flood when he was a senior in high school. She would never be found. It took David years to wrestle with the loss, and eventually he decided to write a semi-fictional book about the event called Bridges & Angels as a therapeutic exercise. No woman figured more prominently on the Yukon and Alaskan frontiers than Belinda Mulrooney. She gained international fame as the richest woman in the Klondike and made and lost more than one fortune. She became a character in novels and her dog the inspiration for "Buck" in the Call of the Wild.

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Time Codes:

00:00 - "You Can Change Your Story": Why I Wrote a Book About the Death of My Mother

23:00 - Belinda Mulrooney: The Richest, Toughest Woman of the Klondike Gold Rush

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Why a Prisoner of War Forgave the Enemies Who Tortured Him Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, Carol, the Daughter of Doolittle Raider Jacob DeShazer, shares the story of her father being taken captive by the Japanese as a prisoner of war, and how he chose to forgive the torturers.

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Sports Were Taken Away From Him in High School... So He Became a Coach Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, World War II history buff, Anne Clare, tells the story of how World War II impacted a small Navy town on the West Coast. Richard Herzog shares the story of an unlikely relationship formed between himself and his high school teacher, which became abusive and caused him to surrender the one thing he loved most: sports. After years of confusion and shame, he became a head football coach and led his team to win 3 state championships.

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Time Codes:

00:00 - America Builds Up: WWII and the Bremerton Naval Yards

23:00 - Sports Were Taken Away From Him in High School... So He Became a Coach

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John Newton: From Disgrace to "Amazing Grace" Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, Brian Edwards tells the story of America's most popular hymn that actually didn't come from America. It was based on the life of English slave trader, John Newton.

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The First Radio Broadcast of a Parachute Jump Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, Roger Brucker shares the story of radio pioneer, "Skeets" Miller, and the surprising story of the first time a parachute jump was broadcast on live radio. Matthew Denhart and Tracy Messer of the Coolidge Foundation tell the story of America's 30th President, a man molded by his rural hometown of Plymouth Notch, Vermont.

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Time Codes:

00:00 - The First Radio Broadcast of a Parachute Jump

10:00 - From The Farm House to the White House: The Story of Calvin Coolidge

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The Story of William Wilberforce and His Campaign to End Slavery Jul 29, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, Eric Metaxas tells the story of the man who, perhaps more than any other, stirred the conscience of the world to see the horror and evil of slavery, William Wilberforce.

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The Surprising Origin of Pinball Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jeremy Saucier of the Strong Museum of Play shares the history of pinball--from its origins in French parlor games, to its prohibition, and then to its emergence as the immersive and popular game that it is today. Liz Williams, founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, tells the story of whisky, bourbon, absinthe, and pink elephants... done Cajun style. Kelly and Donna Mulhollan tell the story of their friend Ed Stilley, a poor Ozarks farmer who managed to create some of the most inquisitive folk art guitars out of what he had laying around, in an effort to please God.

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Time Codes:

00:00 - The Surprising Origin of Pinball

10:00 - The Stories Behind Whiskey, Bourbon, And More

35:00 - The Poor Farmer Who Created Folk Art Guitars to Please God

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.