A Wife’s Heartfelt Letter to Her Husband Afte...

On this episode of Our American Stories, for most of his life, James Armistead Lafayette was known simply as James—not Lafayette. That last name came later, and from none other than the Marquis de Lafayette of the American Revolution. But why would an enslaved man take the last n ...  Show more

On this episode of Our American Stories, they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—but Appleton Oaksmith landed on another planet. His mother was a feminist who knew top abolitionists; his father, a cartoonist admired across party lines. Appleton? He was hunted internatio ...  Show more

Husband and father, Larry O’Brien, loved the freedom his job as a long-distance lorry driver gave him. But on March 6th 1987, that freedom was almost lost in the horror of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, in which almost 200 people lost their lives. Larry – who could not swim – risk ...  Show more

 In moments of survival, people have claimed to sense a mysterious presence that helps them through hard times and leads them to safety. From expeditions through the Arctic to escaping the World Trade Center during 9/11, what’s come to be known as the Third Man Factor has repo ...

For decades, a piece of his skull sat in a Russian archive - our most decisive proof that the most evil man of the 20th century died in 1945. When scientists finally tested the bone in 2009, they discovered it belonged to a woman under 40. The evidence we trusted for over 60 year ...  Show more

Life was pretty good for Paul Brady. He had just got engaged to Emma and the big day was set for the following spring.

Paul was a foreman responsible for security at a number of local site and one sunny Saturday morning he met up with a joiner, David Collier, and hea ...