🎙️ Unscripted America

🎙️ Unscripted America

By GIJoeReligion & Spirituality
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🎙️ Unscripted America episodes

  • A Jewish Soldier’s Unbelievable Survival at the Battle of the Bulge
    On this episode of Our American Stories, Milton Nadler grew up fast. The day after Pearl Harbor, his paper route turned into a rush of headlines about war. Within a few short years, he was living those headlines himself. During the Battle of the Bulge, Milton found himself surrounded, outnumbered, and facing death in the frozen forests of Europe. What happened next defied every expectation.

    Here's Milton himself with the story of how he survived an encounter by the skin of his teeth... kinda. We'd like to thank the U.S. Library of Congress for providing this audio to us and Milton Nadler's family for allowing us to use it. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    11 min
  • The Mad Scientists of Malibu: Surfing’s Early Pioneers
    On this episode of Our American Stories, when Roger McGrath first paddled out at Malibu as a boy in the 1950s, surfing was still a small fraternity with only a few decades of history in California. The boards were heavy, the crowds were thin, and many of the men riding those waves were quietly reinventing the sport. Roger grew up among them, and decades later, he shares the story of the surfers who built the culture he fell in love with.

    It begins with George Freeth, who brought stand-up surfing to California, and Tom Blake, who made the massive wooden surfboard lighter and added the fin. After World War II, Joe Quigg, Matt Kivlin, and the eccentric Bob Simmons pushed the board even further, experimenting with new shapes and materials until surfers could turn faster, ride harder, and do things on a wave that had once been impossible. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    28 min
  • “Hey Kid, Catch!” The Coca-Cola Ad That Made Mean Joe Greene a Legend
    On this episode of Our American Stories, few commercials have left a mark like Coca-Cola’s “Hey Kid, Catch!” starring "Mean" Joe Greene. Greene, already one of the greatest defensive players in the NFL, gained a new kind of fame as the spot played during football broadcasts nationwide.

    Our own Greg Hengler (and others) share the story of how a 60-second spot became one of the most memorable moments in sports and advertising history. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    11 min
  • “Son of a Gun” & “Steal My Thunder” and the Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions
    On this episode of Our American Stories, we use them without thinking. Someone gets “sold down the river.” A project has to “start from scratch.” An idea “steals our thunder.” But behind these familiar expressions are stories involving ancient athletes, biblical passages, British sailors, American slavery, theater rivalries, and baseball.

    Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Curious Origins of Everyday Sayings and Fun Phrases, shares another surprising history hiding inside the words and phrases we use every day. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    10 min
  • Empathy Is Not Optional: The Professor Who Changed Mike Leven's Life
    On this episode of Our American Stories, Mike Leven was studying law at the University of Chicago when a bad grade sent him to his professor's office looking for help. Instead, the professor gave him a verdict: “You don't understand contracts, and I don't think you ever will.” Mike walked out, sold his law books, and went home. His legal career was over almost as soon as it had begun.

    Leven would go on to become one of America's most successful hoteliers, but he never forgot how it felt to have someone in authority dismiss him so completely. Mike shares how that painful encounter shaped the way he approached leadership, parenting, and some of the hardest conversations of his career, especially when he was the person with the power to change someone else's life. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    18 min
  • Bloodletting, Whiskey, and the Strange History of Fighting the Flu
    On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1918, influenza swept across the world with terrifying speed, killing millions. Doctors were desperate to stop it, but there was a fundamental problem: they didn't even know what caused the flu. Patients were subjected to bloodletting and enemas, prescribed whiskey, and even exposed to toxic factory gases, while scientists pursued theories involving bacteria, the weather, and tainted Russian oats. Somewhere among the confusion was a disease medicine could not yet see.

    Dr. Jeremy Brown, author of Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History, shares how scientists finally uncovered the true cause of influenza and began learning how to fight it. This 2019 lecture comes courtesy of the U.S. National Archives. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    31 min
  • How “Women and Children First” Began
    On this episode of Our American Stories, when the HMS Birkenhead struck rocks off the coast of South Africa in 1852, chaos should have followed. Instead, what happened that night became one of history’s clearest displays of courage and order in the face of disaster. With lifeboats too few for the hundreds aboard, British soldiers stood their ground so that women and children could be saved. Their calm obedience became known as the Birkenhead Drill: a model of discipline that would inspire generations and set the standard for what it means to put others first.

    The History Guy shares the story. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    8 min
  • Smokin’ Ed Currie on The Miracle That Gave Him a Family
    On this episode of Our American Stories, before “Smokin’” Ed Currie became famous for breeding the Carolina Reaper and Pepper X, he nearly destroyed his life with addiction. Recovery gave Ed a second chance, but it didn't erase the guilt he carried over the person he had once been. Years later, after he and his wife, Linda, endured miscarriage after miscarriage, they finally accepted that they might never have children of their own. Then, in the middle of the night, the phone rang.

    Ed shares the deeply personal story of the unexpected events that followed. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    11 min
  • The Boys of Milo: The Marine Recon Veteran Who Kept Cheating Death
    On this episode of Our American Stories, Ted Godlove was only months out of high school in Milo, Iowa, when he volunteered for the United States Marine Corps. Before long, he was serving with a reconnaissance unit deep in the jungles of Vietnam, where small teams of Marines operated dangerously close to much larger enemy forces. Godlove survived firefights, desperate escapes, and one helicopter extraction that ended with him and his fellow Marines being dragged through a river. Then, during a deadly mission in 1969, Ted believed his life had come to an end.

    Michael Williams, author of The Boys of Milo, shares the story of what happened next. As Ted lay wounded, he experienced what he believed was an encounter with Jesus and heard five words: “You have to go back.” Ted survived. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    20 min
  • How Johnny Carson Saved Twister
    On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1966, Twister looked like a flop. Retailers thought Milton Bradley's new game was too risqué, Sears refused to put it in its Christmas catalog, and the company was preparing to pull it from stores. Then Johnny Carson spread the colorful mat across the stage of The Tonight Show and invited actress Eva Gabor to play.

    Our Ameican Stories regular contributor Christopher Klein shares what happened next. As Carson and Gabor tangled themselves across the mat, the studio audience erupted in laughter and millions watched at home. The next morning, shoppers went looking for Twister. Soon, factories were struggling to keep up with demand. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unscripted-america--7423192/support.
    8 min

About 🎙️ Unscripted America

From the publisher's feed

UNSCRIPTED AMERICA – Real People. Real Lives. No Perfect Story.

Welcome to Unscripted America, a modern American lifestyle podcast about real people, real experiences, and the realities of life…