Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, when it comes to infrastructure that helps keep us safe while we drive, perhaps the greatest cost-to-benefit ratio in terms of saving lives is painted lane lines on roads. Here's the story of how they came to be. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Canada is an independent nation, not part of the United States. A lot of that has to do with smallpox. Here to tell the story is William Federer, president of AmeriSearch. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, in part three of our five-part series, Brett Favre gets very personal about his miraculous Monday Night Football game, which occurred immediately after his father’s passing. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, we all have a Billy Graham story—Ruth Graham, Billy's daughter, shares hers in the touching eulogy she gave at her father's funeral as part of our ongoing Final Thoughts series.  Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Stephen Ambrose wrote the definitive biography of Dwight Eisenhower. Ike was born in a small rented shack beside the railroad tracks in Denison, Texas. He was raised in a family of Mennonites—fundamentalists in their Christian faith who were also committed pacifists. Here's the late Ambrose himself with the story of our 34th president. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, today, the Super Bowl is the most-watched event on television—between 90 and 110 million people tune in to the "big game" each year. Americans consume 1.45 billion chicken wings (enough to circle the Earth three times), eat 28 million slices of pizza, and drink 325 million gallons of beer on this unofficial holiday. But it wasn’t always this way. Dennis Deninger, author of The Football Game That Changed America, tells the story of how the Super Bowl as we know it came to be—from nothing. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Latin is the dead language of the Romans—but to David P. Hardy, it was exactly what inner-city kids needed to thrive in school and become good citizens. Here's David with the story of how he founded Boys' Latin—and fell in love with being an educator in the worst neighborhood Philadelphia had to offer.  Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, The History Guy remembers a truly extraordinary Civil War heroine, Mary Edwards Walker. She is the only woman in U.S. history to receive the Medal of Honor. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, Presidential historian and author of Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon, Louis Picone, shares the story of the creation, degradation, and revitalization of the former president's final resting place in New York City. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Our American Stories, author Louis Picone tells the story of how Grant's memoirs came to be while the former president was bankrupt and dying of cancer. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.