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.
Abraham Lincoln’s Last Happy Days Before the Assassination
Jelly Roll, a Tennessee Governor, and the Power of Redemption
On this episode of Our American Stories, before he was known as a country music artist, Jelly Roll had a record that included multiple arrests and time behind bars. Years later, after turning his life around and using his music to help others facing the same struggles, his story entered Tennessee’s pardon process.
That process brought his case before Governor Bill Lee. But when Lee spoke about the decision, he didn’t just talk about the law. He spoke about loss, about the death of his wife, and about the faith that carried him through it.
Our own Lee Habeeb shares the story of two men, from very different walks of life, brought together by hardship, faith, and the belief that no life is beyond redemption.
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An Australian’s First Taste of Buffalo Wings
On this episode of Our American Stories, Colin Bettles, an Our American Stories listener from Australia, had never heard of buffalo wings until a trip to upstate New York in the early 1990s. One plate was enough. The tender chicken, the heat of the sauce, and the cool bite of blue cheese made it love at first bite, and sparked a lifelong pursuit.
From discovering the dish’s roots at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, to trying to start his own wing shop in Australia, Bettles chased that original taste across continents. Here he is with his story.
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Nala Ray’s Transformation from OnlyFans Success to a Life of Faith
On this episode of Our American Stories, Nala Ray was an early success story on OnlyFans, building a large following and earning significant income as the platform was still evolving. Over time, she began to feel a growing disconnect between her life online and who she wanted to be.
Despite her lucrative career, she stepped away and turned her focus toward redefining her relationship with God. Nala joins us to share her remarkable redemption story, from the depths of the online adult industry to a new life in Christ.
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Liquor and the Law: How a Tennessee Wine Case Reached the Supreme Court
On this episode of Our American Stories, Doug and Mary Ketchum moved to Tennessee to open a liquor store, only to run into a state residency law that blocked them from getting a license. What followed was a long legal battle that reached the Supreme Court, raising questions about constitutional law and whether states can limit who is allowed to run a business within their borders.
For our Rule of Law series, Doug and Mary share the story of how they brought a bottle of wine to the highest court in the land, and won.
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Brian Wilson and Good Vibrations: The Song That Redefined Pop
On this episode of Our American Stories, Brian Wilson didn’t record “Good Vibrations” the way most songs were made at the time. He built it section by section, using different studios and techniques to create a new kind of sound. The result pushed the boundaries of pop music and influenced the evolution of rock.
For our Story of a Song series, our own Greg Hengler shares the story of how the Beach Boys, and Brian Wilson’s imagination, created one of the most important songs in music history.
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Richard Gatling and the Gun Meant to End All Wars
On this episode of Our American Stories, during the American Civil War, inventor Richard Gatling set out to solve a problem he believed defined modern warfare: too many soldiers were dying not only in battle, but from disease in overcrowded armies. His solution was the Gatling gun, a hand-cranked, rapid-fire weapon capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute. It would reshape how wars would be fought in the decades to come.
Gun expert and Our American Stories regular contributor Ashley Hlebinsky shares the story of how a weapon intended to reduce the size of armies and limit suffering ultimately changed warfare forever.
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America’s First Celebrity: Literary Legend, Washington Irving
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the early years of the United States, Washington Irving became one of the first writers to achieve both national and international fame. His stories, including Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, helped define early American literature and introduced elements of Gothic fiction and Romanticism to a wider audience. He also helped reshape Christmas; a holiday once associated more with rowdy and drunken celebration than with time-honored traditions and family.
Brian Jay Jones, author of Washington Irving: An American Original, shares how Irving built a lasting reputation through storytelling and became America’s first true literary celebrity.
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The Day I Glued My Finger to My Son’s Face
On this episode of Our American Stories, during a quiet family visit, Brent Timmons, our regular contributor from Connecticut, found himself pulled out of conversation and into a situation with his young son that escalated quickly. A simple attempt to fix a small cut created a problem he hadn’t anticipated. He literally glued his finger to his son’s face.
Brent shares the story of the oddest parenting lesson he ever learned.
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The Story of Captain Kangaroo
On this episode of Our American Stories, Bob Keeshan, a Marine, created Captain Kangaroo in 1955, at a time when television was still new and largely unstructured. He built the program around a simple idea: speak directly to children and hold their attention without noise or chaos.
The show ran for decades and became one of the longest-running and most influential children’s programs in television history. Our regular contributor, The History Guy, shares the story of Mr. Green Jeans himself, and his iconic children’s show.
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