On this episode of Our American Stories, why do we have so many different kinds of screws? The answer lies in a little-known industrial rivalry between the Robertson and Phillips screw designs, where engineering innovation collided with manufacturing, war, and corporate power. The History Guy shares the fascinating story of how historical events and business decisions determined which screw would dominate toolboxes around the world.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, invented in 1897, Jell-O became one of America’s most recognizable foods through clever marketing, simple convenience, and perfect timing. Simon Whistler of Today I Found Out and The Brain Food Show tells how a wobbly gelatin dessert worked its way into American kitchens, culture, and history.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Abercrombie & Fitch once ruled shopping malls in the 1990s and early 2000s, but its story began long before loud music and cologne. Founded in 1892 in New York City, the company started as an elite outfitter for explorers, presidents, and world-class outdoorsmen. Historian Ashley Hlebinsky traces the brand’s forgotten origins, from supplying Theodore Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart to becoming one of the most famous clothing labels in America.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, if you could spend one hour talking with anyone, living or not, who would you choose? For regular contributor Stephen Rusiniak, the answer isn’t a famous figure or historical hero. It’s his parents. In this deeply personal reflection, Rusiniak imagines what he would say, what he wouldn’t say, and why simply being together again would be enough. It’s a quiet meditation on love, loss, gratitude, and the conversations we wish we could have just one more time.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, born in small-town Oklahoma in 1918, Paul Harvey grew up shaped by faith, rural life, and the tragic murder of his father, a police officer. From World War II to Watergate, from civil rights to the dawn of the digital age, Harvey spoke to America nearly every day for more than 70 years. Stephen Mansfield, author of Paul Harvey’s America, shares the remarkable life story of how one man with a microphone became a steady voice of clarity, conviction, and comfort for generations of listeners.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, before his stories became classic Hollywood films, James Warner Bellah was writing pulp fiction about cavalry, frontier warfare, and American identity. His short stories and screenplays were later brought to the screen by John Ford and helped define the on-screen voice of John Wayne. But Bellah’s life was shaped not only by Hollywood. He also served during World War I, an experience that deeply influenced his writing and worldview. As part of our ongoing Hollywood Goes to War series, Roger McGrath shares the story of the writer whose words helped shape American war films and one of cinema’s most enduring icons.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, today, America runs on four time zones, but before the railroad era, thousands of towns kept their own local time based on the sun. As rail travel expanded in the 1800s, that system became dangerous and unworkable. Our own Greg Hengler shares the story of how railroad companies, not the federal government, created standardized time zones to keep trains running safely and on schedule, reshaping how Americans understood time itself.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Bill Bryk tells the remarkable story of Joshua Lionel Cowen, the inventive mind behind Lionel trains. Cowen began his career designing electrical devices and naval mine detonators before discovering that motion, electricity, and imagination could transform toys forever. His Lionel trains became a defining part of American childhood, outselling real locomotives at their peak and shaping generations of play. This is the story of innovation, marketing genius, and the toy trains that once ruled America’s living rooms.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Eric Motley, author of Madison Park: A Place of Hope, shares how he was raised by a close-knit African American community in Montgomery, Alabama where storytelling, encouragement, and faith shaped a young boy’s life. In a place where many elders had been denied formal education, spoken words carried power, passing down dignity, purpose, and hope. This is the story of how encouragement, community, and stories told out loud can change a life forever.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, The American Revolution began before independence was declared and before most colonists were ready for a complete break from Britain. In our fifth installment of our ongoing Story of America series, Bill McClay, author of Land of Hope, explains how the fighting at Lexington and Concord shocked a deeply divided America, and how Thomas Paine’s Common Sense helped turn uncertainty into resolve, making independence imaginable and ultimately inevitable.

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