Replay: Under Magnolia

In her memoir Under Magnolia, the renowned author of Under the Tuscan Sun returns to her hometown of Fitzgerald, Georgia to explore her coming of age in the Deep South.

Since 2000, furniture imports from China have increased dramatically and offshoring has cost American furniture makers thousands of jobs. In her new book Factory Man, reporter Beth Macy tells the remarkable story of John Bassett III’s battle to keep his family’s furniture business in southwest Virginia open.

In central Mexico, the work of preparing elaborate meals for fiestas involves many women working together.  The author of Kitchenspace: Women, Fiestas, and Everyday Life in Central Mexico, says this work gives women status in their communities, as well as a way to share traditions and beliefs with younger generations.

Residents of northern China prize individualism, while southerners value their sense of community. One social psychologist has developed what he calls a “rice theory” to explain the cultural differences.

There’s no silver bullet for battling obesity, but studying different communities and their specific food and exercise resources can help jumpstart a solution.