On this episode of Our American Stories, before Paychex, small businesses had limited options for handling payroll. Many owners managed it themselves, while others paid for services designed for much larger companies. Tom Golisano saw the gap and set out to offer a simpler way to manage employee payroll and meet tax obligations without unnecessary cost.

He began with a small group of clients and a clear vision of how payroll services should work for smaller employers. That approach grew into Paychex, a company built on making payroll outsourcing accessible and reliable.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Dana Mitch grew up knowing pieces of her family’s Holocaust story, but they never quite felt like her own. That changed when she visited Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps on German soil.

Walking through its grounds brought the past into sharper focus and helped her connect with a history she had long known only from a distance.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, for decades, Hyman G. Rickover helped build the U.S. nuclear fleet and earned a reputation as the father of the nuclear Navy, known as much for his results as for the way he tested those who wanted to serve under him.

As a young midshipman, Bill Toti, the former captain of the nuclear submarine USS Indianapolis (SSN-697), sat down with Admiral Rickover for an interview that would shape his future. Toti shares what it was like to face Rickover and the lesson that stayed with him long after he left the room.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, The Traveling Wilburys formed almost by accident. When George Harrison needed a B-side, he called Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne, and together they recorded “Handle With Care.” The chemistry was instant, and within months, they became a band the world couldn’t ignore. Their blend of humor, heart, and melody carried through every track, especially “End of the Line.” Our own Greg Hengler shares how these musicians balanced fame with friendship and created music that still feels effortless.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, in the late Middle Ages, English began to change in a way people could hear as much as read. Speakers across England gradually started pronouncing vowels differently, setting the language on a path from Middle English toward what we now recognize as modern English.

That long transition, known as the Great Vowel Shift, helps explain why English spelling and pronunciation so often feel out of sync, since the words on the page stayed largely the same while their sounds continued to evolve over generations.

The History Guy shares how the Great Vowel Shift reshaped spoken English and left a lasting imprint on the language we use today.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, long before the annexation of Texas and long before it entered the Union, Texas stood as its own country. The road to that break began under Mexican rule, as growing numbers of settlers pushed for greater local control.

What followed became the Texas Revolution. The Battle of the Alamo gave the conflict its most famous rallying cry, and “Remember the Alamo!” carried forward into the final fight at San Jacinto, where Texas forces defeated Santa Anna and secured independence.

Official Texas State Historian Monte Monroe shares the story of how Texas became a republic in response to tyranny.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Samson appears in the Book of Judges as a man set apart from birth and given extraordinary strength. Known for the story of Samson and Delilah, he became one of the most recognizable figures in the Bible, though his life was marked by far more than that single moment.

Gifted with power yet driven by impulse, Samson’s story moves toward an ending that has been debated for centuries, bringing down the pillars of the Temple of Dagon upon himself. Our regular contributor, Rabbi Stuart Halpern, co-author of Jewish Roots of American Liberty, shares the story of Samson and explains why American rebels, from John Brown to Malcolm X to the Sons of Liberty, saw his final act as a form of righteous resistance, and why Martin Luther King Jr. ultimately rejected that interpretation when shaping his own legacy.

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On this episode of Our American Stories, Hiram Stevens Maxim is best known as the inventor of the Maxim machine gun, one of the first fully automatic weapons. But later in life, he made a surprising and controversial claim: that he, not Thomas Edison, had invented the light bulb.

According to Maxim, his work with electric lighting predated Edison’s breakthroughs, raising questions about who truly deserves credit for one of the most important inventions in modern history.

Our regular contributor, Ashley Hlebinsky, shares the story of the heated debate over the origins of the light bulb.

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