Jennifer 8. Lee

In America, there are more Chinese restaurants than McDonald’s, Burger Kings, and KFCs combined. And almost all of them serve fortune cookies. So it was no accident when on March 30th, 2005 an unusually high number of folks won the Powerball lottery. They’d all taken their numbers from fortune cookies. New York Times metro reporter Jennifer Lee took this story and ran with it. She tracked down the Powerball winners as well as the history of the fortune cookie and Chinese food as it has evolved in America. The result is her new book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. Jennifer 8. Lee speaks with Faith Salie on Fair Game.