• The American Countryside is truly a slice of Americana. It might be a well-known music or TV star or just someone with an interesting story that lives down the street. From Iditarod sled dog mushers, to NASA scientists... from the Rooster Crowing Championships to NFL greats...The American Countryside is sure to be of interest. Click the button above to listen to the latest show, or visit the American Countryside archives.
  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Have an idea for a story?

The Ceremony Before the Presidential Inaugeration

Every four years this nation holds the inauguration of the President of the United States.  However, few people know that just minutes before that ceremony takes place, another inauguration is held in Norton, Kansas…..

They Also Ran

Tilden, Bryan, Landon, Wilkie–they are just some of the names enshrined here.  It’s a place created by a bank president who thought men such as these deserved to be honored…..

The Story of Kent Feeds

Today we say hello to our listeners on KWPC in Muscatine, Iowa.  Listeners there know an ag company there is turning 85.  But why was this company at one time helping make tires?  It all has to do with the history of one of America’s best known livestock supply brands…..

Free Range Chickens

When Herman’s son brought home an antiquated animal production book he found in his high school ag classroom, Herman decided some of the productions were still relevant today…..

The Dusenberg

In Northeast Indiana, there’s a town that once produced the top cars of the day. In this very showroom, some of the world’s biggest stars purchased their very own King of the Road……

Reenactment of the Civil War

Perhaps you’ve been hearing quite a bit about the Civil War. For the next four years, many sites will hosts 150th Anniversary reenactments of battles and events that took place during that war. It also means Jacob Thomson will have to do more fighting…..

A Museum for Osteology

It’s called the Museum of Osteology.  It’s a one-of-a-kind place.  But many of you are asking what’s osteology?

Using Self Defense Against the Americans?

Barbara Law was a teenager living in Japan when World War II ended. Her country’s surrender signaled many changes in her life, including instruction on how to deal with the American GI’s that would soon land on her homeland’s soil…..

Farming a Different Way

In agriculture there is sometimes infighting between groups that support organic or conventional production methods. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive and both hold keys to achieving bigger yields with less resources. Gary Zimmer helps farmers see the possibilities…..

Biological Farming

Farmers are always looking for ways to do more with less. Gary Zimmer may just be the man who can best help them do just that. He calls it biological farming…..

Senator, Do You Have No Decency?

Joseph Welch said what many Americans were thinking. During a US Senate hearing on June 9th, 1954 he said, “Senator, have you no sense of decency?” Six months later that Senator was censured. This is the story of that heated exchange and what is says about us today…..

An Up and Coming Senator

This Wisconsin senator was a rising star in the state; a man who made history by becoming one of the youngest judges in history and then made a successful leap into national politics. But the story that unfolded in 1950 is what he is remembered for…..

Farming Soybeans in South America

Phil Corzine knows about growing soybeans. However, a few years ago he took that knowledge to South America to grow beans for himself and others. What has he learned and what is his outlook on the future of South American agriculture?

Strongman Steve

strongmansteve(Leslie, Missouri)–Every dentist that has ever advised not to crush ice or hard candy with one’s teeth will not want to meet Steve Schmidt. His teeth are the main attraction and what results from each of his shows is sure to make a dentist squirm–and perhaps you as well…

Mike Rinard, Deffense Attorney

Perry Mason was a star defense attorney on the silver screen, but it’s doubtful that he ever had to work with 3000 clients in one year…..

Best of 2010: Jim Thorpe

In 1912 he was proclaimed the world’s greatest athlete and some of his Olympic records from that year still stood two decades later. He was a well rounded athlete that even won the Dancing with the Stars competition of his day…

Pastor Boyd

Here’s the story about a man who delivers the story of Christmas. A man who inspires people to share the message with others…..

An Outside Courtroom Trial

In the days before air conditioning and microphones, this famous trial was held outside the courtroom, where thousands could get some fresh air and the orators could be heard with their natural voice. It’s the story behind the Scopes Evolution trial…..

“Bidding” to Host the Scopes Trial

Although the case was heard in 1925, it is still one of the best known today. A trial that one town, in a sense, went bidding for…..

The Future of Farm Policy

Turn on any news program and you can find plenty of debate on how Congress should tackle any number of high priorities right now. Perhaps lost in the shuffle is a critical farm bill that will shape the way farmers grow food for this nation and the world…..