The American Story

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John Wayne May 31, 2022

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John Wayne began life as Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa. After his family made its way to L.A., and an injury sidelined him from USC football, he began working full-time as a prop man for movie studios. His natural strength, good spirit, good looks, and determination carried him through nearly a decade of B-movies before he became a star. Thirty-five years after his death, he was still listed as one of America's five favorite movie stars; he became "indivisibly associated with America itself."

Known But to God May 24, 2022

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More than 4 million visitors come to Arlington National Cemetery every year from across America and around the world and, unless they have their own personal visit to make, the thing they most want to do is to climb the hill to the high ground of the Memorial Amphitheater and visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I Kiss the Ground May 17, 2022

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One of America's greatest and most beloved film directors, Frank Capra, was just six years old when he arrived in New York on a steamer from Sicily with his poor Italian immigrant parents in 1903. Growing up, he worked hard, excelled in school, and fell in love with American freedom and the American common man giving us such films as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "It's a Wonderful Life."

Ninety Percent Mental May 10, 2022

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Great American philosopher, Lorenzo Pietro Berra, more commonly known as Yogi Berra, was a baseball legend. As a player with the New York Yankees, he won Ten World Series championships, with 18 All-Star games, three Most Valuable Player Awards, 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in, which earned him a place in the Hall of Fame. After his playing career, he was one of a handful of managers to reach the World Series in both leagues. But Yogi Berra is best known for —Yogi-isms.

Beauty and Brains May 03, 2022

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Hedy Lamarr was born to Jewish parents in Austria in 1914. She became an actress and married by the time she was 20. In 1937, she escaped her domineering husband and rising anti-Semitism in Europe, and made her way to America, where she became a Hollywood star celebrated as the most beautiful woman in the world. During WWII, in hopes of aiding America's war effort, Hedy invented a technology that would eventually be used in cell phones, GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. She had beauty and brains in spades.

God Bless America Apr 26, 2022

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Israel Beilin was five years old when he and his family arrived in New York and, like the rest of the family, he spoke only Yiddish. With the help of Ellis Island clerks, printing accidents, and his own American ambition, his name would become Irving Berlin, and he would become a master of the American language and one of America's greatest songwriters.

The Great Author of America Apr 19, 2022

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Why "the finest Shakespeare collection in the world" is in Washington, D.C.

Paul Revere's Ride Apr 12, 2022

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has been called, "the most popular poet in American history." When Longfellow wrote, few Americans remained who had a living memory of the American Revolution. With his poem, "Paul Revere's Ride" he succeeded in preserving part of that heroic memory in verse for many generations to come, the way Homer did for ancient Greeks, or Shakespeare for Englishmen in more recent times.

One Iron Apr 05, 2022

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Ben Hogan and "the purest stroke I've ever seen"

Friends Mar 29, 2022

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"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." This episode is in loving memory of Merle Whitis.