Covering every hamlet and precinct in America, big and small, the stories span arts and sports, business and history, innovation and adventure, generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love, past and present. In short, Our American Stories tells the story of America to Americans.
About Lee Habeeb
Lee Habeeb co-founded Laura Ingraham’s national radio show in 2001, moved to Salem Media Group in 2008 as Vice President of Content overseeing their nationally syndicated lineup, and launched Our American Stories in 2016. He is a University of Virginia School of Law graduate, and writes a weekly column for Newsweek.
For more information, please visit ouramericanstories.com.
I Would Kill People for Money... but Then God Gave Me Life
Why Burger King Got Banned from One Small Illinois Town
On this episode of Our American, there is no Burger King in Mattoon, Illinois. There isn’t even a Burger King within 20 miles of the small town. The reason? A small burger joint known as the Burger King took the national brand to court... and won. Chris Suerdieck, a curator at the Mattoon History Center, shares the story.
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Buck O'Neil's Lesson on Dealing with Defeat Like a Man
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 2021, former Negro Leagues baseball player Buck O'Neil was finally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame—years after being rejected, to the surprise of his friends, by just one vote. Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, tells the story of how Buck handled that loss, in Bob's words, "like a man."
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The Teenage Girl Turned Patriot Spy Who Fought Redcoat Raiders: Dicey Langston
On this episode of Our American Stories, our regular contributor from South Carolina, Dennis Peterson, shares the story of Dicey Langston, an American Revolutionary War heroine who, at the age of 15, saved her family and fellow patriots from one of the most notorious gangs of Loyalist outlaws of the time: the so-called "Bloody Scouts."
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The Surprising Backstories of America’s Three Most Controversial Candies
On this episode of Our American Stories, Candy corn. Black licorice. Circus peanuts. Chances are, you have a strong opinion about one or all of these three candies. For some, they're a nostalgic treat... for others, they belong in the trash. But chances are, you've never thought about how they came to be. Here to tell the story of America's three most controversial candies is a man simply known as the History Guy.
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Who Was the Oldest Man at D-Day? The Untold Story of Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
On this episode of Our American Stories, armed with only a walking cane and a pistol, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the son of the former president, stormed the beaches of Normandy at an age when most men were thinking about retirement. He had a lot to live up to, and despite his privileged upbringing, he succeeded in making a name for himself much like his father. Craig Du Mez, president of the Grateful Nation Project, shares the story of the only son of a U.S. president to receive the Medal of Honor.
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The Heiress of "America's Billionaire King" Who Joined Her Terrorist Abductors: The Story of Patty Hearst
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1974, Patricia Hearst, heiress to the William Randolph Hearst newspaper empire, was abducted by an American far-left militant organization. But in a shocking turn of events, she eventually joined their cause. Here’s the remarkable story.
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How a Single Mother's Grit Built One of the World's Largest Moving Companies
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early 1980s, Brig and Jon Sorber, then high school students in Lansing, Michigan, started a local moving service using an old, beat-up pickup truck. They called it Two Men and a Truck—and their mom drew the original stick-figure logo. When the boys left for college, she took over the business, incorporated it, and—using the meager $350 profit from its first year—laid the foundation for one of the world's largest moving companies. Brig himself shares the remarkable story.
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The True Story of the Man Who Traveled Across America by Goat to Lead People to God
On this episode of Our American Stories, JD Phillips (a.k.a. The Appalachian Storyteller) shares the true story of Ches McCartney—a man who traversed the United States in a ramshackle wagon drawn by, of all things, a herd of goats. His mission? To spread the word of God—and have a few adventures (and misadventures) along the way.
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Final Thoughts: A Listener Shares the Story of His Local Cemetery
On this episode of Our American Stories, for our regularly occurring Final Thoughts series, Our American Stories listener and regular contributor, Bill Bryk, gives us a tour of his local cemetery in Antrim, New Hampshire, painting a vivid picture of the people buried there and the lives they lived well.
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