Our American Stories

On this episode of Our American Stories, Aron Marquez’s American Dream began with dirt under his fingernails and sweat in the fields. The work was grueling, but it taught him lessons he never forgot: discipline, endurance, and responsibility. Those same lessons paved the way for him to enter the oil industry, where he founded a company (Wildcat Oil Tools) that today generates over $100 million in annual revenue. 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, Cuba’s 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power and forced countless families to make an impossible choice: stay under a communist regime or flee their homeland. Mike Gonzalez’s father once called Castro a friend, but soon discovered the price of living under his rule. With freedoms stripped away and fear taking hold, escape became the only option. Mike shares his family’s story of exile, revealing what Cuba was like before Castro and how the revolution changed everything. 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 1890, Nellie Bly set out to do what seemed impossible: circle the globe in less than eighty days. Known to her readers as a bold reporter who once went undercover in a mental asylum, Bly was already a household name. But this journey, inspired by Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, would make her a legend. Traveling by ship, train, and carriage, she raced against time and returned to New York in just seventy-two days. 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, before Hollywood became the world’s movie capital, one man was already imagining films on a scale no one had ever seen. Cecil B. DeMille brought spectacle to the screen with epics like The Ten Commandments and The King of Kings, setting the standard for what cinema could be. Known as a master showman and a visionary director, DeMille helped transform Los Angeles into the heart of American filmmaking and left behind a legacy that is honored every year through the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award. Scott Eyman, author of Empire of Dreams, shares 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, for Lawson Bader, one teacher changed everything. Erika, his German instructor, wasn’t content to simply drill vocabulary. She wanted her students to see history with their own eyes. That meant taking Lawson to Berlin when the Wall still loomed large, dividing families and a nation. Standing at the Cold War’s most visible fault line, he learned more than any textbook could teach: the consequences of tyranny, the meaning of freedom, and the power of one teacher to shape a student’s life forever. 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, James King was just a 21-year-old college student walking to work in Grand Rapids when two men suddenly threw him to the ground. Thinking he was being mugged, he fought back until he realized his attackers were undercover law enforcement officers who had mistaken him for someone else. What followed were years of court battles, with King refusing to let the assault be swept aside. Backed by the Institute for Justice, he brought his case to the Supreme Court, transforming his own nightmare into a broader fight for justice and accountability. 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, Alonzo Cushing was just 22 years old when he fell at Gettysburg, standing firm as Confederate troops charged across the field. His courage earned him the respect of his men, but not the honor he deserved. More than 150 years later, advocates carried his name all the way to the White House to secure 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, for Karen Olson, the ache of missing her father began at a school dance where other girls stood beside their dads while she stood alone. Her mother had told her he was dead, and Karen believed it for decades. But the truth was far more complicated. A long-lost family connection surfaced years later and changed everything she thought she knew about her childhood. 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, when Robert Redford took on the role of Jeremiah Johnson in 1972, audiences fell in love with the image of a rugged mountain man who carved out a life in the wilderness. But the real Johnson lived a life far stranger and harsher than Hollywood ever showed. Historian Ashley Hlebinsky joins us to pull apart fact from folklore and reveal what Hollywood got right—or wrong. 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, Edie Hand remembers an Alabama childhood filled with mud pies, Shetland ponies, and afternoons in the barn where she could dream freely. Her mother kept a perfect home and often reminded her that she was strong, like her grandmother Alice. But while her brothers drew their mother’s attention, Edie was left to prove that strength on her own. Now in her seventies, she looks back on a girlhood shaped by joy, silence, and a search for connection that still lingers. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate) Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.