(This encore episode originally aired December 18, 2024)

Triangle restaurateur follows simple rule: 'respect the ingredient'

If you live in the Triangle and eat at local restaurants, you’ve likely indulged your palate at one of Giorgios Bakatsias’ cafes, bistros, or tavernas.

Giorgios’ restaurant empire dots the region’s culinary landscape, from Chapel Hill to Durham to Raleigh to Wake Forest, and in recent years even expanding out to Wilmington.

And after more than four decades in the business, the eatery entrepreneur does not seem inclined to slow his pace anytime soon. He talks with Leoneda Inge about his culinary journey from Greece to Durham.

A conversation with James Chappel, author of 'Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age'

What’s your vision of how you’ll spend your “golden years”? While the specifics differ from person to person, there may be something distinctly American about our society’s framing of aging, how our expectations around aging have evolved, and how that vision is being reimagined in the current economic and social landscape.

From the social movements underpinning Social Security and Medicare to the hit TV show "The Golden Girls," James Chappel takes Due South on a journey through American aging, and what the future of aging in our country might look like. His new book is Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age.