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 Most Dangerous Journey
The Irish Forced Across the Atlantic
On this episode of Our American Stories, most Americans know the story of Irish immigrants arriving during the Great Famine. Far fewer know about an earlier chapter, when thousands of Irish men, women, and children were forcibly removed from their homeland and sent across the Atlantic under English rule. Their story stretches from Viking raids to Cromwell's conquest and the earliest English colonies in the New World.
Colin D. Heaton, military veteran and co-host of the Forgotten History YouTube channel, shares this often-overlooked chapter of Irish history and explains why it remains one of the most misunderstood stories of the colonial era.
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King David and the Jewish Roots of America's Founding
On this episode of Our American Stories, why did America's founders and most important men keep turning to King David? From the Revolution to Abraham Lincoln's efforts to reunite the nation after the Civil War, the biblical king and his family helped generations of Americans understand courage, rebellion, leadership, and reconciliation.
For our ongoing series, Rabbi Stuart Halpern, co-author of The Jewish Roots of American Liberty, shares the story of the surprising influence of King David on the American experiment.
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How a Gravedigger Became a Hero: King Solomon and the 1833 Cholera Epidemic
On this episode of Our American Stories, in the summer of 1833, Lexington, Kentucky, was brought to its knees by a cholera outbreak. Entire families were lost in a matter of days, and fear spread faster than the disease itself. When the dead outnumbered the living willing to bury them, one man stepped forward.
His name was Solomon. Most people in town dismissed him as a drunk gravedigger. But in the middle of the crisis, he dug without stopping, gave the dead their dignity, and kept the city from collapsing under the weight of its own fear. Kentucky journalist Sam Terry tells the story of King Solomon, the unlikely hero whose redemption came in the middle of one of the deadliest epidemics in American history.
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The Redemptive True Story of a Cocaine Drug Lord
On this episode of Our American Stories, George Valdes fled Cuba with his family in 1966 believing the American Dream would give his life meaning. By age 21, he was helping run one of the largest cocaine operations in North America, earning millions of dollars each month, yet he had never felt more empty.
George Valdes, author of Coming Clean: The True Story of a Cocaine Drug Lord and His Unexpected Encounter with God, shares the remarkable story of how prison, his family, and an unexpected search for truth transformed his life.
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Recovery Began When I Stopped Doing It Alone
On this episode of Our American Stories, addiction kept Ryan Stewart at a distance from nearly everyone around him. For years, he tried to manage it alone, convinced that asking for help meant losing control. But when things began to fall apart, the people around him stayed. Friends, counselors, and even strangers showed up in ways he never expected. Recovery came slowly, marked by setbacks and quiet progress, but each step forward was built on trust and a willingness to let others walk with him.
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Bernard Irwin: America's First Medal of Honor Hero
On this episode of Our American Stories, in February 1861, Assistant Surgeon Bernard John Dowling Irwin volunteered to lead just 11 soldiers on a dangerous mission to rescue troops surrounded by Apache warriors in what became known as the Bascom Affair.
The History Guy shares how Irwin earned the first Medal of Honor by date of action and how one misunderstood confrontation helped spark the Apache Wars, a conflict that would shape the American Southwest for decades.
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How a 2.4-Mile Ocean Swim Changed My Life
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 2009, Scott Stewart found himself spiritually, emotionally, and financially broken. Sixteen years later, a 2.4-mile open-water swim off Cape May, New Jersey, became the moment everything came into focus.
Scott shares how one extraordinary day in the ocean transformed years of quiet spiritual growth into a life-changing awakening. We'd like to thank our regular contributor, Leslie Leyland Fields, whose book Write Your Story, Change Your Life features Scott's story.
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The Only Car Ever Made to Honor God
On this episode of Our American Stories, Barry Meguiar, CEO of Meguiar's, set out to buy a 1901 automobile simply because it matched the founding year of his family's company. What he discovered after the auction surprised even one of the world's foremost car collectors.
Barry shares the remarkable story of the rare Duryea brother's automobile he believes is the only car ever made to honor God, and how its history has given him an unexpected way to share his faith.
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Billy The Kid: The Story Behind the Legend and the Myth
On this episode of Our American Stories, Billy the Kid lived just 21 years, but he became one of the most enduring figures of the American West. Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier, separates fact from fiction, tracing Henry McCarty's journey from orphan to outlaw, the Lincoln County War that made him famous, and the legend that outlived him.
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