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. I turned off news altogether.
I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we can calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. and BC News reporting for America. 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. What's up, y'all? Summer's got a different tempo.
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.
You're locked into a lot of things you can't change. Weather, traffic. Hey, stay in your lane. Your wireless carrier's latest price hike, but you can unlock a better way. Unlock the savings at Boost Mobile and save up to $600 a year.
Switch to the $25 a month unlimited wireless plan. No contracts, no price hikes, and you keep your phone. Stop being locked into their games. Unlock the savings at boostmobile.com/slash unlock. Based on average annual single line of payment of ATT Verizon and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited Wireless Plan as of January 2026.
For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com.
Okay. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. And we tell stories about everything here on this show, including yours. Send them to ouramericanstories.com. That's ouramericanstories.com.
Recently we got a letter in the mail. From Colorado, where Bob Hamner, the writer of the letter, lives and listens to us on KOA in Denver. Bob took up sailing later in life.
Something our own Monty Montgomery also did on Lake Michigan. And so we had him interview Bob. Take it away, Monty. Bob Habner had only seen sailboats pulling out of the dock growing up. He had never learned to sail before.
But that was about to change. It was 1975. I just decided uh at that time I'd Been through schooling and a good career and had things pretty well under control. I thought I wanted to try something new. And sailing offered that experience.
Because growing up in Kansas you don't get a chance to sail a lot.
So I really I just was drawn to it One of the things that I did was I booked a Cruise on a sailing ship in the Bahamas. The sailing ship was called a Phantom. and on the phantome They carried small little sailboats that you could rent. I decided I'll try out sailing myself.
So they lowered one down off of the big cruise ship. I hopped on. I had no idea how to sail. I was sailing by the seat of my swim trunks and I noticed if the sail was on one side of the boat and drawn up tight, I went fast. That was kind of fun.
And then I noticed when I wanted to turn around, I better be very careful because the boom is going to come around and. contact my head if I'm not careful.
So I figured out to sail just kind of on the seat of my pants there and went up and down the coast. and I decided to try to go out a ways from the island. I did and I got caught in a little little bit of an undertow and I paddled right back quickly. Thank God I didn't get swept out to sea 'cause I knew nothing about sailing at that time. I was just inventing it as I went along.
But had a great time and from that time on I was hooked on sailing. But then I bought my own boat. First boat I got was a Hobie 14 catamaran. Which is basically a little racing boat. I discovered I didn't have room for all my new sailing gear in my firebird, so I gave up my sophisticated mad about town image.
purchased a van to all the sailing gear.
Now with the van I can haul a bigger boat.
So I bought a bigger boat. Nah needed a bigger van for the bigger boat.
So I bought a bigger van. And then I got so big with the boat I couldn't get it next to my house.
So I bought a bigger house with acreage. plenty of room to store big boats.
So now I bought a bigger boat. Bob had caught the bug for sailing, and, like any proper sailor, he has some stories. Here's one from the time he was sailing on his first boat. The Hobie in Nebraska, of all places. It's like the sports car.
of sailboats. Catamaran, two hulls. And One of the things you can do with um with a catamaran is you can if you have enough wind you can get it up on one hull.
So you're like riding 45 degree surface and The one hull hull is just slicing through the water. And one time I was out on Lake McConaughey, that's the lake in Nebraska, and I was flying a hole and the hole that was in the water dove under a wave. And My hobie did a flip-flop, clear off on its Back. And so I was set up for with a life jag and everything, and I had what's called riding ropes where you pull the boat. back to on his feet.
Well, I finally got in position and pulled the the boat up on its two hulls. Came down in between the hold, the main flopped out. and this boat took off like a rabbit. and I'm hanging onto the back rail, body surfing behind the boat. I finally pulled myself up on what's called a canvas.
and got control of the boat. But that was close because that was a big lake. I was in the middle, no other boats were out there. Nobody else saw it, fortunately. Bob started doing regattas or boat races and gained stories from these events too.
Here's one from the time he attempted to sail the length of Lake Huron with friends. I did a um Boat race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island. I did this twice on it wasn't my boat, it was a friend of mine's boat. One afternoon a lightning bolt struck the water about a hundred yards off our starboard bow. We didn't know it at the time, but it knocked out our electronics on this boat.
It was boat was a nice boat, a thirty five foot cruiser, five of us crewing. And night time approached and um We didn't realize our running lights were not on because you can't really see those lights from the cockpit. And things are going kind of haywire with the electronics on the boat.
Well, we had no running lights and I'm at the helm. and I could see in back of me once in a while you should look in behind you. We're a sailboat going about three to four knots. Middle of the night. Here comes a tanker behind me doing about twenty-five knots.
I wasn't sure if he could see me or not, but I did a quick 90 degree turn to the port. got out of his way. And he chugged on by us and He finally did see us and he raised his searchlight, swept it around, over us so it didn't blind us. Just to let us know that he was there. and don't do anything stupid, which we already had done.
Well then we began to look at our electronics around the boat and By that time things, everything was about out. While I was navigator on the boat for this race, I held a handheld GPS. Captain of the boat said, Well, let's just go on. We got your. handheld GPS I said, Frank, that'll put us in Mackinac Island.
The next night at 1 a.m. right in the middle of the shipping channels, I said that's not a good idea. I said, I can take you into a safe harbor. with my little GPS right now, so He agreed and we sailed in. I got in right between the goalposts.
safe harbor and we abandoned the race at that point. Our electronics were totally gone on the boat. But it was a wonderful learning experience. And great job as always to Monty, and a special thanks to Bob Hamner for sharing his new passion in his life. picking up sailing.
at an older age, and it's a great thing to do. Bob Hamner on sailing. And on starting anew. Starting over. or starting something, or just the heck of it.
Here on Our American Story. Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or want to hear again can be found there daily. Again, Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these great American stories coming.
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. 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. Professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week. Watch CNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AMC. It is like electricity blowing through you. Don't miss the adrenaline, the drama, and the total non-stop action.
No one can ever be as good as this, right? Don't miss the action of TNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AM Sing. For show types and more information, visit TNA Wrestling.com. I'm not great with words after a fight, and I'm sorry wasn't cutting it this time.
So I used Joybox to write a soulful ballad about how she's always right. By the second chorus, the silent treatment was officially over. Visit joybox.com and get out of the doghouse today. Yeah.
