This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.
The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q.
This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a camp miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances by major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Join this landmark celebration and get Your America's Block Party Tickets Now for $17.76 at America250.org/slash LA.
I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything.
Alright. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America. What's up y'all? Summer's got a different tip-up.
Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer.
Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. conversations stretch out, little memories sneak up on you.
Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. that color. That chill, the new tropical butterfly refresher from Starbucks. guava and passion fruit flavors with ango pineapple flavored pearls. Yeah.
That feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm. with Starbucks. Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks.
Hi, it's Karen in Georgia from My Favorite Murder. We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ionic 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamar. Want the full story? Take a listen. She starts dating Howard Hughes.
And in fact, she helps him design a faster plane.
So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode, Spotlighting Groundbreaking Innovators like Hedi Lamar and Billie Jean King. Presented by the Hyundai Ionic 5.
Goodbye. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Search for the Our American Stories podcasts, go to the iHeartRadio app. to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Up next, a story from Joe Garmin.
Joe is the founder of Armed Prison Ministries, one of the largest prison ministries in the world. While it's fair to say that he's seen his fair share of prisoners over the years, One sticks out for pretty obvious reasons. He was the infamous dictator. of Panama. Let's get into the story.
Here's Joe with our own contributor, Katrina Hein. When you go into the chapel, you don't know who this guy is in this pew. who that guy is on the platform.
So When you met Noriega the first time, you met him face to face, right? Oh, yeah, huh. Don't you remember? When We invaded Panama. Remember that?
The goals of the United States have been to safeguard the lives of Americans. to defend democracy in Panama. to combat drug trafficking. and to protect the integrity of the Panama Canal Treaty. And they were broadcasting, trying to get him to come and surrender.
Playing loud music and all that.
So, you know, talking about why he was such a bad man. Um Oh, he was a bad man. I'm telling you he was. He killed people, and I mean, he was deep in the drugs. He was a drug lord.
They always called him dictator. He called himself president. But I mean, he was a different person in that jail cell after he became Christian.
Well, we build baptistries at my ministry. and the man who brought him to Christ. ordered a baptistry from us. And that's what he was baptized in. That's when I broke in and started writing to him, you know, 'cause we were the ones who provided this Baptist recording.
And uh he wrote back and invited me any time I was in the Miami area to come and see him and he would schedule an opening for me to come in and uh he had a pod all to himself in that prison. He was in solitary confinement at all times because they didn't want him speaking to the other prisoners and they didn't want the other prisoners speaking to him. What were they afraid of? Drugs. Oh, yeah.
He could have run that out of the prison. Hold on. But um his pod was made up of two compartments The one compartment. had his bed and his exercise equipment in there. And the other apartment had a table and kind of like a little office in there.
And so he would do his exercises and then he'd go and write his letters and whatever. We had communion. I took communion to him. And uh He and his daughter, in fact, she was my translator, she was my interpreter. We talked about sin.
She would talk about sin with him. He was Like a Hungry man. Listening to the truth of God. I'm telling you, he was sincere in every way. And it proved it when he was sent back to Panama.
They put him in a home. They didn't put him in a prison. They gave him a house. And he and his wife lived in that house, and he'd walk to the store and back and stuff like that, but mm-hmm. Nothing like before.
He was a changed person. And Christ is the one who did it to him. It all started with a beauty shop operator. Thank God for his daughter. She went to Venezuela.
something. And while she was there, she went into a beauty shop to get her hair done. and the beautician, who was female, did not know this was Noriega's daughter. And she asked Noriega's daughter. I wish I could remember the girl's name.
I can't remember her name. but she asked her if she was a Christian, and she said no. and that beauty shop operator witnessed to her. in that beauty shop, And when she got out of the beauty shop, couple of days later She heard some of our Us students, we had some students from Mozart Christian College down there. Conducting youth revivals.
She went to one of them. And um She went forward one night, Confess Christ. And When they asked her what was her name, she wouldn't tell them. But come to find out. They baptized Noriega's daughter in the river.
And Noriega's daughter then witnessed to her mother. Her mother became a beautiful Christian lady. Her mother eventually moved to Miami. had a Bible study in her home for ladies. And There sat Noriega with a daughter and a wife.
Both shooting. both ways, adding. That beauty shop operator to this day does not know what she did. Uh But God.
Okay. What do you think of that? Yeah. Mm-hmm. And here we are today talking about it.
Because of what she did. She could have been quiet. And you know, things like this don't just happen. That'll make you scratch your head, you know that? And God has done that for me in so many ways.
So many ways. I had this idea, and poo, here I am over here, you know. And Joe Garmin is right. Things like this just don't happen. This one hairdresser in Venezuela shares her testimony.
With The daughter. of Manuel Nariega. And his wife.
Well, she shares her testimony with the dictator and mass murderer. And what do you know? A life has changed. A life in prison, no doubt, a bad life lived. but a life redeemed.
The story of the hairdresser who converted a dictator. You're on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, and I'm inviting you to help Our American Stories celebrate this country's 250th birthday coming soon. If you want to help inspire countless others to love America like we do and want to help us bring the inspiring and important stories told here about a good and beautiful country, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories. Go to ouramericanstories.com and click the donate button.
Any amount helps. Go to ouramericanstories.com and give. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years. And now it takes form in a new way.
The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash. Slash semi-Q.
That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America250. America's Block Party is a camp miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances by major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks.
Join this landmark celebration and get your America's Block Party tickets now for $17.76 at America250.org/slash LA. I'm U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. We all get distracted when we drive. Whether it's from our phones, or kids in the backseat bickering.
But how we handle these distractions can be a matter of life. or death. Before you get on the road for your next road trip, Please put your phones on silent. and take a mental note. to focus on driving.
Paid for by Nitza. Hi, it's Karen in Georgia from My Favorite Murder. We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ionic 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedi Lamar. Want the full story? Take a listen.
She starts dating Howard Hughes. And in fact, she helps him design a faster plane.
So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode, Spotlighting Groundbreaking Innovators like Hedi Lamar and Billie Jean King. Presented by the Hyundai Ionic 5.
Goodbye. Um Paramount Plus is now the home of all your BET favorites. What? Yes! With all new episodes of Tyler Perry's Divorce Sisters.
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