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.
The First Thanksgiving: The Origins of an American Tradition
The Woman Who Convinced Lincoln to Make Thanksgiving a Holiday
On this episode of Our American Stories, before it became the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving was just one of many autumn celebrations scattered across the country. In the mid-1800s, Sarah Josepha Hale, already known for writing “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” saw an opportunity to unite the nation around a shared tradition. For decades, she wrote to governors, editors, and finally President Abraham Lincoln, urging him to declare a national day of thanks. In the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln answered her call. His 1863 proclamation created the Thanksgiving holiday Americans know today, blending food, family, and gratitude into one of the most cherished traditions in the United States.
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The Character of Thomas Jefferson: America's 'Everyman'
On this episode of Our American Stories, Thomas Jefferson is America’s “everyman” because he has been embraced at one time or another by nearly everyone. Historian and acclaimed author of American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Joseph E. Ellis, shared the story of Jefferson’s journey through American history at the U.S. Library of Congress.
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Inside the Christmas Store Where Price Tags Disappear
On this episode of Our American Stories, each December, a small volunteer-run “store” opens for families who could use extra help during the holidays. Parents walk through the space like any other shop, choosing toys that fit their kids without paying a cent. Jonathan Mattox, co-chairman of The Christmas Store in Oxford, Mississippi, reflects on how this forty-plus-year tradition grew into one of the community’s most reliable holiday efforts.
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The 1983 Toy Riot That Changed Holiday Shopping
On this episode of Our American Stories, when the Cabbage Patch Kids hit store shelves in 1983, parents felt a pull they hadn’t sensed from a toy before. Crowds formed before sunrise, and the pressure inside those shops grew in a way that felt unfamiliar for the holiday season. What started as a rush for one doll ended up reshaping the way Americans braced for the day after Thanksgiving. Toy historian Jonathan Alexandratos shares the story behind the craze and the shift it set in motion.
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When One Iowa Family Welcomed Refugees to the Table
On this episode of Our American Stories, when a group of refugees from Bosnia arrived at her Iowa church, Joy Neal Kidney watched them step carefully into a world that felt nothing like the one they had escaped. One family in particular carried the quiet weariness of people shaped by war, and Joy’s family decided to give them something familiar to hold onto: a Thanksgiving dinner. Joy joins us to tell the story of one remarkable Thanksgiving.
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Tom Landry: A Story from “America’s Coach”
On this episode of Our American Stories, before he ever wore his trademark hat on the sidelines, Tom Landry was a young man trying to build a future during the hard years of the Depression. He joined the University of Texas football team, flew combat missions in World War Two, and returned home to begin a professional career that brought both recognition and pressure.
But even as the wins piled up, he felt a quiet emptiness he could not ignore. When a friend invited him to a Bible study, he went reluctantly—and left with a sense of clarity he had been searching for since childhood. Here’s Tom Landry’s story of faith and football in his own words.
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Balloons Over Broadway: The American Visionary Who Created the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons
On this episode of Our American Stories, Tony Sarg never set out to become the quiet genius behind one of America’s most cherished traditions, yet his imagination is the reason Thanksgiving morning feels like magic. Long before millions tuned in to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Sarg was busy turning puppetry, engineering, and whimsy into something completely new. His early window displays for Macy’s were so inventive that the store asked him to help shape their holiday parade, and that’s where his upside-down puppets took flight. What we now think of as giant parade balloons began as sketches from a playful mind that loved solving problems and delighting crowds.
Here to tell the story is Deborah Sorensen, Curator of Exhibitions at the Nantucket Historical Association, where their exhibition Tony Sarg: Genius at Play is the first comprehensive exhibition exploring the life of Tony Sarg.
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A Surprising Friendship Between a Worn-Out Mom and an Aging Cop
On this episode of Our American Stories, Heidi Viars spent her days juggling kids and household chaos, convinced she didn’t have room for much else. Her neighbor, Tom, kept mostly to himself after retiring from the Chicago police force, and the two lived side by side without knowing each other for years. Things shifted the day Heidi slowed down enough to notice he was slipping. One small act of kindness led to another until a simple check-in became something deeper. Their friendship grew in quiet moments, shared rides, and the kind of trust that forms when two people step into each other’s lives at just the right time.
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The Time FDR Tried to Change the Date of Thanksgiving
On this episode of Our American Stories, most Americans grew up thinking Thanksgiving had always fallen on the same Thursday in November. In Lincoln’s time, it was set on the last Thursday of November, and that habit settled in for generations. Then Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted the holiday earlier, hoping that a longer shopping season would lift a struggling Depression-era economy. The change split the country, with some governors following FDR and others keeping the old date, and for a few years, families marked Thanksgiving on different Thursdays depending on where they lived.
Melanie Kirkpatrick walks us through why FDR and Thanksgiving became linked to a calendar fight and how Congress finally fixed the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
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