The Story

At this time of year, we in the South know that the nicest place to be is on the porch. Today, producer Jake Warga slows down and listens to what's being talked about on porches in Mississippi.

In downtown Providence, R.I., a massive shopping mall dominates the skyline. Some residents like Michael Townsend have been grumbling since the mall was first built in 1999. In 2003, Michael and a few friends decided to challenge their own critical perspective on the mall with an experiment - for one week, they vowed to never leave the mall. They would eat, bathe, and find a place to sleep there. The experiment ended up lasting 4 years. Also in this episode: Ashley Menger decided to carry all her non-recyclable trash with her at all times for a period of two weeks, just to see how much there was.

Mauricio grew up in war-ravaged El Salvador and South Central L.A. He says he lived life never thinking about his future because he had a hard enough time surviving day-to-day. He was 16 when he stumbled upon a summer program that took him out of L.A. and into the California wilderness. That experience, he says, is what finally gave him the ability to think about and plan for a better future.

One man in Slidell, La. re-built his house on an 11-foot platform after a hurricane wiped it out.