Dave Begel on Black Friday, the holidays and much more

With the world going mad and the holiday season kicking into full gear, I turned to Dave Begel, the go-to guy for “Backstage with Mark Metcalf,” who joined me for a special holiday podcast.

With the holidays in full swing, we discuss a “new” holiday; the conspicuous celebration of consumption known as Black Friday, and how it fits into the bigger American picture. We also take a look ahead to the podcast series I’m working on that addresses the issue of race in Milwaukee.

As is often the case in conversations with Mr. Begel, our conversation went in a few interesting and unanticipated directions. We try to determine whether or not Milwaukee is an unhappy city, and discuss civil disobedience, revolution and the Occupy Wall Street movement. But as it so often does, it all comes back to theater.

Listen now:

Backstage with Mark Metcalf: Dave Begel