TrueSouth begins in Scott, La., the buckle on the Boudin Belt that stretches across Cajun Country. We drive rice fields that double as crawfish ponds, eating cracklings by the sack and boudin by the link. A sausage made with pork and rice, boudin is one of the most traditional Louisiana foods. Almost 50 years after the Cajun renaissance began, boudin has become a symbol of modern Cajun culture, made with new ingredients like crawfish and cauliflower and interpreted in a kaleidoscope of dishes like boudin balls and boudin burritos. Hard by I-10 just west of Lafayette, the town of Scott is the best place to understand what’s going on. At Exit 97, we meet Robert Cormier of the Best Stop, open since 1986, and Logan Kartchner of Kartchner’s Specialty Meats. We learn from Donald Link, the Cajun Country-born chef, and Barry Jean Ancelet, the professor and poet who helped lead that renaissance. We dance to live musical performances by K.C. Jones, and Lil Nathan & the Zydeco Big Timers.

TrueSouth focuses on the great state of Arkansas, and on the river that defines its eastern flank. Sometimes when the Mississippi River changes course, it leaves behind an old bend in the main channel called an oxbow. Lake Chicot, home to Lake Village, Ark., is the largest oxbow in North America. Here, we explore how that river has shaped place and people. At Cowboy’s Steakhouse, Santa Lee, the first-born son of Chinese immigrants, cooks prime ribeyes in the rear of a chain pizza restaurant. At Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales and Pies, Rhoda Adams and her daughter Dorothy Adams Mitchell bake half-pecan and half-sweet potato pies worth a three-hour drive. In Lake Village, we celebrate family legacies with a daughter who looks after her mother. And a son who, like his father, works to make his children proud. Local music is always foundational to our shows. This time out we crowd-sourced a number of songs from viewers. Listen out for Arkansans Greg Spradlin from Pangburn and Adam Faucett from Benton.