Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, what began as one boy's love of action figures grew into a career designing toys for some of the world's biggest brands, and eventually into the world's first museum dedicated entirely to action figures. Today, more than 13,000 figures fill the shelves, from superheroes and movie icons to historic military displays, each one telling a story of imagination and craftsmanship.

Museum founder Kevin Stark shares how a lifetime of collecting became a place where visitors don't just rediscover old toys, but reconnect with the memories and wonder of childhood.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, before John Marshall, the Supreme Court was still finding its place in the new American government. By the time he was done, it had the power to declare laws unconstitutional, and entrepreneurs had the legal framework they needed to help build a nation. Marshall's landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison established judicial review, forever changing the role of the Court.

Yet beyond the bench, Marshall was a man of simple pleasures, devoted to quoits, wine, and his hero, George Washington. Richard Brookhiser, author of John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court, shares the story of the Chief Justice who defined the Court's authority and left a lasting mark on American history. We'd like to thank the U.S. National Archives for allowing us access to this audio.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Tammy Harris always dreamed of making a living as an artist. After becoming a single mother, she traded that dream for factory work to support her daughter. Years later, she found her calling in an unlikely place: a tattoo shop.

Today, Tammy and her husband run their business with one guiding principle: people come first. Whether it's talking young customers out of tattoos they'll regret, creating deeply personal artwork that others refuse to do, or providing free restorative tattoos for breast cancer survivors, Tammy believes integrity matters more than profit. It's a remarkable story about art, ethics, and changing lives one tattoo at a time.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, most Americans know Jackie Robinson as the man who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier. Few know the story of Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers executive whose Christian faith convinced him that segregation in baseball was morally wrong and that he had a responsibility to do something about it.

Inspired by Abraham Lincoln and the teachings of Christ, Rickey set out to change America's pastime despite fierce public opposition. Our own Lee Habeeb shares the remarkable story of the man whose convictions helped transform baseball and the country.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, before We Were Soldiers became one of Hollywood's most acclaimed Vietnam War films, Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and journalist Joseph Galloway refused to let anyone adapt their bestselling book. After years of watching Hollywood get the Vietnam War wrong, they had no interest in seeing their soldiers' story distorted once again.

Writer and director Randall Wallace shares the remarkable story of how Braveheart earned him their trust, why he risked his own money to secure the film rights, and how We Were Soldiers became a tribute to the courage, sacrifice, and brotherhood of the American soldier in Vietnam.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, on July 4, 1986, moments before the largest fireworks display in American history, President Ronald Reagan gave a rousing speech from the deck of the USS John F. Kennedy in New York Harbor. Standing beneath the Statue of Liberty, he reminded the country and the world what freedom really means.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, The Declaration of Independence is one of the most famous documents ever written. Its words helped launch a revolution and have inspired independence movements around the world ever since.

But the parchment signed in 1776 faded badly over time. By the early twentieth century, it was nearly impossible to reproduce clearly. The version most Americans recognize today exists because of Theodore Ohman, an immigrant craftsman who settled in Memphis, Tennessee. Mark Hill tells the story of how Ohman created the detailed reproduction that preserved the Declaration’s appearance for generations

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On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1790, George Washington answered a letter from the Hebrew congregation of Newport, Rhode Island. His reply carried words that still echo today: America would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." It was a radical promise for its time, a vision of a nation where faith and government would remain separate and all people would be free to worship as they chose.

Vince Benedetto of Bold Gold Media Group shares the story of how one letter helped define what religious liberty would mean in the United States.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, the bald eagle has appeared on America's Great Seal, coins, flags, and official emblems for more than two centuries. But the bird's journey to becoming the nation's symbol was anything but straightforward. The Founding Fathers couldn't agree on a design for the Great Seal, and after the bald eagle was finally chosen, Americans spent generations hunting and poisoning the very bird they celebrated.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jack E. Davis, author of The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird, shares the remarkable story of how the bald eagle became America's national symbol, why Benjamin Franklin disliked it, and how one of the greatest wildlife recoveries in American history brought the species back from the brink.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1926, on the 150th anniversary of American independence, Calvin Coolidge delivered a Fourth of July address that went far beyond celebration. Speaking in Philadelphia, he argued that America's prosperity did not create its founding ideals, but that its founding ideals created America's prosperity.

Coolidge warned that abandoning the principles of the Declaration of Independence would mean losing the very source of American freedom. Drawing on the same moral tradition invoked by Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, he defended equality, natural rights, and self-government as enduring truths rather than outdated ideas. Vince Benedetto, joined by Coolidge interpreter Tracy Messer, share the story of a speech that still challenges Americans to remember the true heart of their independence.

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