Our American Stories

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Latest Episodes:

He Believed His Father Was Dead Until One Phone Call Apr 17, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Ron Brown grew up in Chicago and lost contact with his father at a young age. Over time, the absence became permanent, and he eventually came to believe his father had died.
But after Ron appeared on Family Feud and introduced himself on air, his father, who was still alive and watching, recognized him. He followed the details shared during the episode and began making calls until he was able to track him down.
Ron Brown joins us to talk about that call and what happened after they reconnected.

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She Made Sure No One Was Buried Without Honor Apr 16, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, at a funeral home in Iowa, a number of urns had gone unclaimed for years, with no clear path back to family. Lanae Strovers was asked to try to track someone down, but many of the names led nowhere or to people who could not take them.
Instead of leaving them there, she arranged the burials herself and made sure each person was treated with care.
Here’s Lanae with her story.

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Jackie Robinson Didn’t Just Change Baseball. He Changed America Apr 16, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Jackie Robinson didn’t plan to make history. He only wanted to play ball. But in a country that had barred Black baseball players for more than sixty years, that simple dream came with impossible expectations.
After a short stint in the Negro Leagues in Kansas City, he became the first to cross into the majors, carrying not only a bat but the burden of representing a nation’s progress. From racism on the field to isolation in the clubhouse, Robinson endured what few could. And because he did, the integration of Major League Baseball finally began.
Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, tells the story of one of America’s greatest players.

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Robert Smalls Stole a Confederate Ship and Sailed His Family to Freedom Apr 16, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, in May 1862, Robert Smalls carried out a daring escape from slavery in Charleston Harbor. Forced to work aboard the Confederate ship Planter, he learned its routes and the signals required to pass the harbor’s defenses. When the officers left the ship one night, Smalls stepped into their place and guided the vessel past Confederate guns toward the Union blockade.
The History Guy shares how Robert Smalls escaped slavery and secured freedom for his family.

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What a Grandmother’s Hands Can Tell Us About Family Apr 16, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Dennis Peterson, our regular contributor from South Carolina, reflects on his grandmother and the role grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren, remembering a set of hands that carried the weight of a family and offered comfort when it mattered most, even while dealing with painful arthritis.

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Jim Henson, Kermit the Frog, and the Rise of the Muppets Apr 16, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the Muppets became a part of American television, Jim Henson was experimenting with a camera and a homemade puppet that would eventually become Kermit the Frog. He saw something others missed: a way to use television to give a puppet a sense of life.
As his work found its way onto more screens, the Muppets became a familiar part of life across the United States, shaped by a creative vision that quietly changed what television could be.
Brian Jay Jones, author of Jim Henson: The Biography, shares the story.

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Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the Story Behind America’s Most Famous Speech Apr 15, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, in November 1863, Abraham Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just months after one of the bloodiest battles in American history. What he saw there, the devastation, the loss, and the sacrifice, would shape the words he was about to deliver. At just 269 words, the Gettysburg Address would go on to become one of the most famous speeches in history. But at the time, it was largely overlooked and even criticized.
Our host, Lee Habeeb, shares the story behind the Gettysburg Address, how Lincoln redefined the Civil War as a fight not just to preserve the Union but to advance the principle that all men are created equal, and why those few words continue to shape America today.

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The Woman Who Refused to Let Her Children See Defeat Apr 15, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, before Devon Westhill became the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he learned the meaning of perseverance from the woman who raised him. His mother faced poverty, long hours, and the weight of raising a family on her own in rural Florida. Yet through every setback, she refused to let her children see defeat.
Her story is one of grit and grace, a mother who built stability out of scarcity and taught her children that success isn’t handed down, it’s earned, day by day.
We’d like to thank our partners at Philanthropy Roundtable for sharing this story with us.

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April 14, 1865: A Police Chief Witnesses Lincoln’s Assassination Apr 15, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, the week of April 1865 brought both the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. At Ford’s Theatre on Good Friday, a senior Washington police superintendent, largely forgotten to history, named A.C. Richards witnessed John Wilkes Booth enter the presidential box and fire the shot that would kill the nation’s leader.
Ford’s Theatre reenactor Mike Robinson shares A.C. Richards’s firsthand perspective and recounts the tragic events of April 14, 1865.

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How RMS Titanic Became the First Real-Time Maritime Disaster Apr 15, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, after RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, two young men spent the next 160 minutes sending frantic distress calls across the North Atlantic to anyone who could hear them. Their names were Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. They kept working as the ship took on water, using one of the most advanced communication systems of its time to reach nearby vessels and call for help before the sinking became inevitable. After all, the fate of more than 2,200 people rested in their fingers.
William Hazelgrove, author of One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to Save the RMS Titanic, shares the forgotten side of history’s most famous shipwreck story through the eyes of her wireless operators.

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