Our American Stories
Arts & Culture Podcasts
Our American Stories tells stories that aren’t being told. Positive stories about generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love. Stories about the past and present. And stories about ordinary Americans who do extraordinary things each and every day. Stories from our listeners about their lives. And their history. In that pursuit, we hope we’ll be a place where listeners can refresh their spirit, and be inspired by our stories.
Our American Stories tells stories that aren’t being told. Positive stories about generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love. Stories about the past and present. And stories about ordinary Americans who do extraordinary things each and every day. Stories from our listeners about their lives. And their history. In that pursuit, we hope we’ll be a place where listeners can refresh their spirit, and be inspired by our stories.
Location:
United States
Genres:
Arts & Culture Podcasts
Description:
Our American Stories tells stories that aren’t being told. Positive stories about generosity and courage, resilience and redemption, faith and love. Stories about the past and present. And stories about ordinary Americans who do extraordinary things each and every day. Stories from our listeners about their lives. And their history. In that pursuit, we hope we’ll be a place where listeners can refresh their spirit, and be inspired by our stories.
Twitter:
@realoastories
Language:
English
Email:
info@OANetwork.org
Listen on a live station
Episodes
Edgar Allen Poe, Father of Modern Horror… Detective, Science Fiction, and Treasure Hunt Stories
8/12/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, Edgar Allen Poe is known for his scary short stories and poems, and when we look at his life, early tragedies explain a lot of his stories… but what we don’t often think of when we consider Poe are his comedic writings, his detective stories, and even… a bit of early Science Fiction. Chris Semtner, Curator at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia pulls back the curtain on Poe.
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See...
Duration:00:46:01
They're One of the Youngest Couples in Their Community and Doing Aerobics... at 90?!
8/12/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, author Richard Rhodes shares the amazing story of Austria-born turned Hollywood movie star, Hedy Lamarr. She was known for her beauty, but her accomplishments go far beyond her appearance, including inventing what would become WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth. David and Zela Flor give us a look at what "Blue Zone" living in Loma Linda, California, is really like and how there way of clean living produces results you'd never imagine.
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Duration:00:46:01
The Transatlantic Cable: How ONE Underwater Cable Changed the World
8/11/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, historian John Steele Gordon tells the story of how the telegraph went from Samuel Morse to winning WWI and how one man spearheaded the effort to connect America to Great Britain and, in doing so, the rest of the world. Former CEO of 7-Eleven, Jim Keyes, tells the story of how their company has led countless immigrants to the American Dream.
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Time Codes:
00:00 - The Transatlantic Cable:...
Duration:00:47:22
A Store Named "Piggly Wiggly" Created the Modern Supermarket
8/11/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, meet Ron Brown, a man who grew up in a rough area of Chicago, was practically abandoned by his father, and would mend their relationship later on in life. Clarence Saunders developed “self-service” grocery shopping in his Piggly Wiggly stores at a time when store assistants usually collected products for their customers. By introducing checkouts, clearly priced goods, and itemized receipts, he set the foundations for the supermarkets of...
Duration:00:47:22
The Woman Who Stood Up To George Washington
8/10/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, during the Revolutionary War, Esther Reed decided the Patriot troops needed a morale boost. Reed, along with other Patriot Women began a campaign to raise money for the cause. When she brought her idea to General Washington, he had another idea of what she should do with the money. At a time when women were only expected to fire up the oven, Annie Oakley fired her way to fame as the world’s greatest sharpshooter. In her personal life she was a...
Duration:00:39:46
Stalin’s Daughter: American Citizen, Wisconsin Cheesehead?!
8/10/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and America’s Cup winner Bill Koch doesn’t like being cheated. Tom Acitelli, author of Pilsner: How The Beer of Kings Changed The World, tells the story of how America's favorite drink came here and stayed here despite a world war and Prohibition. When 85-year-old Lana Peters passed away in 2011 from complications due to colon cancer, the nation seemed to have forgotten the woman who had become a sensation during the Cold...
Duration:00:48:18
One of the Last Navajo Code Talkers Remembers WWII’s “Unbreakable Code”
8/9/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, many Americans have heard of the famous Navajo Code Talkers who used their traditional language to transmit secret Allied messages in the Pacific Theater of combat during World War II. This story is told to us by one of these Marines, Peter MacDonald, the President at Navajo Code Talkers Association.
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Duration:00:49:40
When Shooting Weddings And Chasing Storms Collide
8/9/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, Dr. John Marszalek and Eddie Rangel of the Grant Presidential Library tell the story about how Grant went from selling firewood on a street corner, to leading the US Army to victory in the Civil War. Mike Olbinski is an Arizona based photographer. He takes family photos, shoots weddings and also... chases storms.
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Time Codes:
00:00 - A Presidential Sized Comeback: The Story of U.S...
Duration:00:49:06
The WWII Attack America Chose to Forget
8/8/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, because of the devastating nature of the attack, the U.S. government chose to keep the details of the HMT Rhona hushed. Grove City College PoliSci professor Paul Kengor brings us the details through the eyes of Sergeant Frank Bryer. T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt’s humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. The Commodore helped to launch...
The Greatest Fighter Pilot in American History, Dick Bong
8/8/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, after the United States pulled out of Vietnam, their allies in Indochina were all alone. Faced with the prospect of slavery, torture, and death at the hands of the Communists they fought against, many asked to be resettled in the United States. Robert Ray, the governor of Iowa, stepped up. Here again with his reoccurring series is Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slice from his ultimate guide to understanding these baffling mini...
A Crooked Cop, An Innocent Man, And An Unlikely Journey Of Forgiveness And Friendship
8/5/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, here again with his reoccurring series is Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Curious Origins of Everyday Sayings and Fun Phrases author, Andrew Thompson, as he continues to share another slice from his ultimate guide to understanding these baffling mini mysteries of the English language. It all went down in the city of Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 2006. Andrew Collins was a narcotics officer. Jameel McGee was a new father of a baby boy. This is...
Ilene Hall Joined the Army to Search for Her Husband During WWII
8/5/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, when Ilene Hall enlisted in the Army WAC in 1943, she was following her husband, Edward “Ken” Hall to war. When her husband, to whom she was married in March 1943, finished his training and was about to be shipped overseas, the young Canton, Ohio girl decided not to put an ocean between them. Art Burton, author of countless books on African Americans in the West, tells the story of one of the most feared outlaws of the Indian Territory...and the story...
When Pride Still Mattered: The Life of Vince Lombardi
8/4/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, more than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. David Maraniss (author of "When Pride Still Mattered"), captures all of Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.
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City Grazing: The Landscape Management Company Powered by Goats
8/4/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, Anne Clare tells the story of a nurse who served in the Philippines during World War II, and shares the experience that she and others like her went through after the Japanese invasion there. Genevieve Church, the third "Goat Lady of San Francisco", is executive director of City Grazing. She shares about how this sustainable land management and fire prevention non-profit organization came to be. At the start of the 1948 election cycle, President...
The ONLY Time You Want Just One Lawyer in Your Town
8/3/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, what started as a quest to find black fans for a brother-in-law morphed into a lifelong mission to find anything small, electric, and an appliance. Here's the story of "The World's Largest Small Electrical Appliance Museum" in Missouri, and the man behind it all. Some people don’t have the highest view of lawyers, but not every lawyer is an ambulance chaser. At least, Bill Bryk isn't. Stephen Ambrose tells us a very unlikely World War II story about...
Duration:00:48:08
"You Can Change Your Story": Why I Wrote a Book About the Death of My Mother
8/3/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, David LaBelle's last memory of his mother was seeing her washed away in a raging flood when he was a senior in high school. She would never be found. It took David years to wrestle with the loss, and eventually he decided to write a semi-fictional book about the event called Bridges & Angels as a therapeutic exercise. No woman figured more prominently on the Yukon and Alaskan frontiers than Belinda Mulrooney. She gained international fame as the...
Duration:00:48:46
Why a Prisoner of War Forgave the Enemies Who Tortured Him
8/2/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, Carol, the Daughter of Doolittle Raider Jacob DeShazer, shares the story of her father being taken captive by the Japanese as a prisoner of war, and how he chose to forgive the torturers.
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Duration:00:38:15
Sports Were Taken Away From Him in High School... So He Became a Coach
8/2/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, World War II history buff, Anne Clare, tells the story of how World War II impacted a small Navy town on the West Coast. Richard Herzog shares the story of an unlikely relationship formed between himself and his high school teacher, which became abusive and caused him to surrender the one thing he loved most: sports. After years of confusion and shame, he became a head football coach and led his team to win 3 state championships.
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Duration:00:38:16
John Newton: From Disgrace to "Amazing Grace"
8/1/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, Brian Edwards tells the story of America's most popular hymn that actually didn't come from America. It was based on the life of English slave trader, John Newton.
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Duration:00:38:16
The First Radio Broadcast of a Parachute Jump
8/1/2022
On this episode of Our American Stories, Roger Brucker shares the story of radio pioneer, "Skeets" Miller, and the surprising story of the first time a parachute jump was broadcast on live radio. Matthew Denhart and Tracy Messer of the Coolidge Foundation tell the story of America's 30th President, a man molded by his rural hometown of Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
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Time Codes:
00:00 - The First Radio Broadcast of a Parachute...
Duration:00:38:46