Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, after leading the colonies to victory in the American Revolution, George Washington shocked the world by refusing to become king. Instead, he laid the foundation for the American presidency and helped define the future of our republic. Dr. Larry Arnn of Hillsdale College and bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick share the remarkable story.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Rick Monday's career spanned more than a decade in Major League Baseball, but one defining moment had nothing to do with a bat or a glove. In the spring of 1976, at Dodger Stadium, he intervened when protesters tried to set fire to the American flag in the middle of a game. His quick reaction, caught on camera, made him an unlikely national hero and turned an ordinary afternoon at the ballpark into one of the most memorable moments in baseball history.

Veteran and Our American Stories regular contributor Blake Stilwell shares the story.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, the late historian David McCullough explains why America's Founding Fathers cannot be understood as ordinary people living modern lives. Drawing on his deep study of figures like John and Abigail Adams, McCullough describes a world shaped by slow communication, constant risk, and immense personal responsibility. Decisions were made without instant news, quick consultation, or shared blame, and the consequences were often a matter of life and death.

McCullough argues that to understand the Founders, we must first understand the culture they lived in, the hardships they endured, and the moral weight they carried. It's a reminder that history is not abstract and that character is forged under pressure

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On this episode of Our American Stories, at 14, Peter Cancro took a summer job making sandwiches at a tiny sub shop on the Jersey Shore. Three years later, when the business went up for sale, his mother asked a simple question: "Why don't you buy it?" At just 17 years old, Cancro borrowed the money, skipped high school classes to run the shop, and bet his future on a single sandwich store.

Peter Cancro shares the remarkable story of building Jersey Mike's from one neighborhood sub shop into one of America's fastest-growing restaurant chains.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Francis Scott Key wasn't a musician, a soldier, or even a master wordsmith. But after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, he scribbled out a rough poem that captured a nation's defiance.

Set to the tune of a British drinking song, his words became "The Star-Spangled Banner," the unexpected anthem of a young country. Marc Leepson, author of What So Proudly We Hailed, shares the remarkable story of how America's national anthem came to be.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1939, as Hitler tightened his grip on Europe, between 88 and 94 percent of Americans opposed entering the war. Martha and Waitstill Sharp were part of the small minority who believed they couldn't look away. Leaving behind their children and the safety of home, they traveled into Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to rescue people marked for persecution.

In the first installment of our 6 Percent series, Deborah Dwork, author of Saints and Liars, shares the extraordinary true story of two ordinary Americans whose faith drove them to risk imprisonment, torture, and even death before the United States entered World War II.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, when the Civil War began, students at Hillsdale College didn't wait to be called. Within hours of President Lincoln's request for volunteers, they formed a military company and offered their services to the Union. By war's end, more than 500 Hillsdale students and alumni had served, four had earned the Medal of Honor, and nearly half had been killed or wounded.

Hillsdale College professor Peter Jennings shares the extraordinary story of the student soldiers who traded classrooms for battlefields, fought in nearly every major campaign of the Civil War, and lived out their college's founding principles of liberty, duty, and sacrifice.

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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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On this episode of Our American Stories, George Washington didn't lead the American Revolution from a grand office or government building. He led it from a canvas tent that traveled with the Continental Army across the colonies. Inside its weathered walls, Washington planned campaigns, met with officers, and made decisions that would shape the future of a new nation.

Our regular contributor, Ashley Hlebinsky, shares the remarkable story of George Washington's war tent, the portable headquarters that became America's first Oval Office and one of the most important surviving artifacts of the Revolutionary War.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago needed a showstopper. France had unveiled the Eiffel Tower just four years earlier, and America wanted an attraction that would leave the world equally amazed. Most engineers proposed taller towers. George Ferris had a different idea: build a giant wheel that could lift more than 2,000 people into the sky.

Our own Greg Hengler shares the story of the impossible invention that became the Ferris wheel, one of the most recognizable rides in the world and an enduring symbol of American ingenuity.

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