On this episode of Our American Stories, before anyone understood the reach of Star Wars, a small toy company stepped in with an idea that would alter the future of licensing. The first run of 1977 Star Wars figures was modest, yet the response from children and collectors revealed something larger. These toys made the galaxy feel close enough to hold, and that closeness turned the franchise into a merchandising powerhouse.

Jarrod Roll—museum director and public historian known for his work preserving and interpreting American material culture—explains how this shift influenced the habits of young fans and redefined what a film could become once it left the screen.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, long before Ruth Handler created Barbie, she was a girl standing behind the counter of her family’s Denver deli, learning how people reveal themselves in the smallest choices. She carried that intuition with her as she and her husband began building Mattel from almost nothing.

Years later, it was her daughter who brought that old instinct into focus. As Ruth watched her play with her dolls, she noticed a gap the toy world kept overlooking: young girls didn’t want to play pretend only as mothers—they wanted more. Ruth believed that offering them a figure shaped for possibility could change the way they pictured their own futures. Acting on that belief pushed Mattel into uncertain territory and started the story we now recognize as Barbie.

Robin Gerber, author of Barbie and Ruth, follows how one woman’s way of paying attention altered the direction of American childhood.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, when Kent was just nine years old, he had a very special experience that, many years later, he still can’t seem to shake. Here’s Kent with his story entitled “To Hear the Angels Sing.”

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On this episode of Our American Stories, a short-term mission trip can feel predictable—until the moment it is not. Stephen Rusiniak shares a story written by his daughter, who traveled to West Virginia expecting hard work and good memories, nothing more. What she found instead was a barefoot child standing in a doorway and a reminder of how acts of kindness can reshape our sense of what matters.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, every Sunday, Our American Stories host Lee Habeeb speaks with Mitchel "Big Mitch" Rutledge, who has spent more than forty years serving a life sentence in Alabama. Each call traces the shape of faith, regret, and forgiveness inside a place built for punishment.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, at Fort Irwin, where military training exercises push soldiers to the edge of real combat, the line between routine drills and genuine danger can blur without warning. Our American Stories regular contributor Richard Muniz remembers a night when that line vanished. A single misjudged moment during a live-fire military exercise sent a round into the wrong vehicle and forced a small crew to fight for their lives in the dark. His story is a look at how even the best-trained teams face risks that no plan can fully erase.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, by the start of 1864, the Civil War had dragged the country into exhaustion. Union armies faced setback after setback, and Lincoln watched public confidence slip as the Confederacy pressed its advantage. The outcome of the presidential election during wartime hung on the direction of the fighting, which turned the battlefield into a measure of Lincoln’s strength. Charles Bracelen Flood revisits this uneasy year, when the fate of the Union and the presidency moved together through uncertainty that reached from the front lines to the White House. We’d like to thank the Library of Congress for originally hosting this audio.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, when Blair and Cat Cornell learned their son would be born with special needs, they braced themselves for a future they could not quite picture. The early years brought long appointments and days that seemed to rise and fall on small breakthroughs. One evening, after a day that had worn their son down, Blair took him for a quiet drive. The shift was immediate. The tension left his face, and the moment settled into something gentle and steady.

That drive eventually inspired JoyRide, a community built around children with developmental challenges who find comfort in cars and in the people who welcome them in. Blair shares how a simple ride became a way for families like his to feel seen.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, long before travelers lined up for brisket sandwiches or bags of Beaver Nuggets, Buc-ee’s began as Arch “Beaver” Aplin’s attempt to rethink what a roadside stop could feel like. He believed that even a quick break on a long drive deserved care, and the first Texas store reflected that instinct. Over the years, the idea grew until people started talking about the largest gas station in the United States as if it were a landmark rather than a convenience store. Eric Benson, who spent time tracing Aplin’s story for Texas Monthly, explains how a small experiment in hospitality reshaped the way drivers experience the open road.

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