Our American Stories

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Latest Episodes:

The “Baby Box Lady”: Monica Kelsey and the Mission Saving Newborn Lives Feb 12, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, founder and CEO Monica Kelsey tells the remarkable true story behind Safe Haven Baby Boxes—secure drop boxes installed at fire stations that allow mothers to surrender newborns safely and anonymously. Conceived in rape and abandoned at birth, Monica later served in the military and became a firefighter/medic before discovering the circumstances of her own beginning. After seeing a “baby safe” box in Cape Town, she returned home, helped pass America’s first baby box legislation in Indiana, and launched the first U.S. box in 2016. Today, baby boxes are saving newborns and reducing deadly abandonments. Monica’s full story is told in her book Blessed to Have Been Abandoned.

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How Dogs Gave One Man Purpose Feb 12, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Ryan Stewart never imagined that walking dogs would become his calling. But after years of drifting, dogs became the constant that helped him grow up, slow down, and finally like who he was. In this deeply personal story, Ryan shares how working with dogs changed his life, and how he now uses that bond to reach people who’ve lost their way.

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Ulysses S. Grant’s Final Battle: How His Memoirs (and Mark Twain) Saved His Family Feb 12, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Ulysses S. Grant returned from a triumphal world tour as one of the most admired men on earth—then, almost overnight, he was ruined. After a catastrophic investment collapse left him bankrupt and in debt, Grant was diagnosed with inoperable throat and tongue cancer. With death approaching, he took on one last fight: writing his memoirs to ensure his wife Julia and their children would not be left destitute. Louis Picone, author of Grant’s Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant, shares the remarkable story of how Grant rejected a bad publishing deal, turned to Mark Twain, and wrote in agony until he finished the manuscript just days before he died.

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Before Yellowstone: The Real Story of Richard King and the King Ranch Feb 12, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, long before modern Western dramas, there was Richard King, the real cattle king of the American West. Historian Roger McGrath and William Yancey of Texas A&M University–Kingsville share the story of how a New York orphan became one of the most powerful ranchers in American history, building the legendary King Ranch in South Texas, and helping transform America into a nation of beef eaters.

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The Enslaved-Made Towel That Reveals a Hidden Civil War Story Feb 12, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, a plain white cloth, roughly woven, unremarkable at first glance, turns out to be a powerful witness to slavery, war, and freedom. Chris Graham of the American Civil War Museum shares the story of a towel woven by an enslaved person on a South Carolina plantation during the Civil War. Long interpreted as evidence of Confederate hardship, the cloth reveals a deeper truth about forced migration, self-emancipation, and the lives of enslaved people moved inland to escape Union lines. Through this single object, a hidden chapter of the Civil War, and America’s original sin, comes into focus.

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J. Edgar Hoover: The G-Man Who Built the FBI Feb 11, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, The Pulitzer Prize winning author of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover, Beverly Gage, shares the story of J. Edgar Hoover’s forty-eight years at the center of American law enforcement. From his early obsession with files and bureaucracy, to his role under eight presidents, Hoover shaped the FBI—and the federal government itself—across the Depression, World War II, and the Cold War.
Gage examines Hoover’s rise, his management of power, landmark cases like John Dillinger, and the contradictions that defined his legacy, including his role in civil rights investigations and the surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. The result is a portrait of a man whose influence touched nearly every major political and cultural conflict of the twentieth century.

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Growing Up With a Heroin-Addicted Father Feb 11, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, writer Lilly Dancyger reflects on growing up with a father addicted to heroin, and the quiet ways addiction shaped her childhood. From early conversations about drugs to the confusing aftermath of her father’s death, she traces how love, denial, anger, and grief intertwined over time.
Originally written for Psychology Today, Lilly's tale is a deeply personal story on addiction, loss, and what it means to reckon honestly with the people we love.

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After a Heart Attack, an Ozark Farmer Began Making Guitars for God Feb 11, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, while plowing his field in the Ozarks, Ed Stilley suffered a heart attack and experienced a vision that would change his life. He believed God asked him to build musical instruments and give them to children, with a promise that his family would be cared for in return. The problem was simple: Ed had never made an instrument before.
Musicians Kelly and Donna Mulhollan, founders of the Ozark Instrument Museum, tell the story of a poor farmer who taught himself to build guitars from scrap wood and metal, creating hundreds of deeply personal instruments meant not for profit or fame, but for faith.

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From Farmhouses to Harvard Yard: Two Boys, One Friendship, Two Fates Feb 11, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, James Bradley Thayer and Chauncey Wright grew up in rural Massachusetts with little to suggest they would one day enter Harvard’s elite world. Yet both rose into Harvard Yard, where their paths sharply diverged. Thayer became a towering figure at Harvard Law, shaping generations of Supreme Court justices, while Wright’s brilliance was undone by personal struggle.
Historian Andrew Porwancher, a professor at Arizona State University and a Jack Miller Center Fellow, tells the story of ambition, friendship, and the thin line between promise fulfilled and promise lost. The story is adapted from his book The Prophet of Harvard Law.

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Elizabeth Smith Friedman: The Woman Who Built American Cryptography Feb 11, 2026

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Elizabeth Smith Friedman helped build modern American cryptography, though much of her work remained classified for decades. From World War I through World War II, she broke enemy codes, trained military intelligence officers, dismantled Prohibition-era smuggling networks, and exposed Nazi spy rings operating in South America.
Lindsay Larkin, who attended Friedman's alma mater, shares the story of a pioneering codebreaker whose quiet work shaped U.S. intelligence and national security long before her contributions were publicly recognized. We'd like to thank Constituting America for turning us onto this tale.

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