Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, Tim Harford, author of the bestselling book 50 Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy, shares the stories of three inventions that changed the way we live today. 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, 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. Our next story is told to us by one of these Marines. Peter MacDonald is the President at Navajo Code Talkers Association. 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 director was a renegade filmmaker who'd never made a profitable picture. The producer was hired because he could stay below budget. The star had a reputation for being difficult. A formula for disaster? No, the makings of one of the greatest films of all time. Here to tell the story is Harlan Lebo, author of The Godfather Legacy. 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, Elisabeth Elliot was a missionary who returned to Ecuador with her toddler daughter to preach the Gospel to the Indian tribe that had killed her husband. Here's Elisabeth Elliot to tell us her story. 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, Thomas Bennett was a master salesman and businessman who helped, along with John Moses Browning, create the iconic American firearms brand Winchester. 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, a former high-powered media executive shares the story of how the 37-year horse racing Triple Crown drought broken in 2015 brought back a flood of memories of Sundays at the track with his Dad. 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, “Wild Bill" Donovan was one of America’s most exciting and secretive generals—the man President Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy in World War II. “Wild” Bill was the director of the Office of Strategic Services (the country’s first national intelligence agency). He is known as the founding father of both the CIA and the military's Special Operations Forces—along with being credited as the father of psychological and cyber warfare. Here to tell the story is Douglas Waller. He is the author of the bestseller, Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage. 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, King Solomon was a gravedigger who may have saved the town of Lexington during the Cholera epidemic of 1833. Kentucky journalist Sam Terry tells the story of the man they called “King Solomon.” 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 brutal double-murder that happened in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892 has long been considered an unsolved mystery. Cara Robertson, author of the The Trial Of Lizzie Borden, tells the story. 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 origin of this conflict flowed from a deceptively simple question—a riddle of sorts that a Catholic monk named Martin Luther wrestled with for years. The question he asked himself was this: Am I a good person? Here to tell the story is Eric Metaxas, bestselling author of Martin Luther. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.