Today, on what's marketed as “the biggest shopping day of the year,” we check in with two small business owners facing their first Black Friday: Michael Sclafani, who operates the Park Delicatessen skateboard, flower, and dry goods store in Brooklyn, New York; and Julie Lapier, who owns a Dresscode, a consignment shop in Plattsburgh, New York.

We also chat with Spencer Ante, Businessweek writer and author of "Creative Capital," about the the rise of entrepreneurship in a recession.

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT:  Julie Mason, White House correspondent for The Washington Examiner, discusses the security aspects of some high profile party crashers who snuck past the Secret Service and into the big tent of the White House's state dinner Tuesday night.
• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT: The New York Times' Louise Story discusses the tremors in world financial markets as Dubai announces it needs to postpone some of its debt payments.
• CONSUMER TAKEOUT: Our own Femi Oke is out at a local Wal-Mart store, reporting on Black Friday's lines.

It's been a big week for the planet. Yesterday, the world’s biggest polluter, China, said it would slow the rampant growth of its carbon emissions. This week President Obama voiced his own proposal: a committment to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in several stages. BBC environment correspondent Matt McGrath joins us to make sense of these announcements - what do they mean for a hypothetical international climate change deal in Copenhagen?

The couple that crashed President Obama's first White House dinner, Tarek and Michaele Salahi, managed to slip through several layers of security in order to pose with such Washington luminaries as Vice President Joe Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel. The couple aren't new to (fleeting) fame. They're reportedly in the running to be one of the couples on the Bravo reality show, "The Real Housewives of Washington." And the New York Times reports that the Bravo cable TV network followed the couple up to the entrance state dinner. For more on this, we're joined by Brian Stelter, who writes the Media Decoder blog for our partners, The New York Times.

Wes Anderson's first animated film, "Fantastic Mr. Fox," was released nationwide yesterday. He chats with us about the process of auditioning puppets for the film, the magic of directing Meryl Streep, and the excitement of adapting one of Roald Dahl's most beloved stories to screen.

Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is charged with killing 13 people and wounding 31 others during a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Central Texas. Hasan has been hospitalized at Brooke Army Medical Center since the shooting. Civilan police reportedly shot and wounded Hasan, paralyzing him from the waist down. Trying Hasan in court may seem straightforward to most, but President Obama and several high-ranking army officials made statements in the days after the shooting that some say will prevent Hasan from getting a fair trial anywhere in the country. We talk with Hasan's attorney, Ret. Col. John P. Galligan. Galligan says his main concern is making sure his client is able to find a fair and impartial jury.

• Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin joins us for a look back at Thanksgiving's football games and those coming up over the weekend.
• Business Takeout: The New York Times' finance reporter, Louise Story, explains why the risky derivatives market needs reform, and why banks and bankers seem to want to prevent that reform from happening.

Over the last two years, Vice President Joe Biden has gone from powerful senator to presidential contender to vice president.  As part of that ascension, he has given up some things to gain others, and as James Traub reports in this weekend's New York Times magazine, Biden is creating a job that holds considerable power in the nation's domestic and foreign agendas.

[WEB EXTRA] Listen to more from our interview with James Traub:

Last Thanksgiving, a crowd of thousands crushed into a Wal-Mart store in search of holiday sales, killing a 34-year old man.  That incident has made stores around the country look at ways to keep customers and staff safe this shopping season.  Takeaway Correspondent Femi Oke goes back to the Green Acres Mall - the scene of last year's accident - to check in with shoppers and the mall's new safety measures.

Can you have faith but not believe in God? There are a growing number of atheists who declare themselves "faithful," but not all religious leaders think their belief system makes sense. On the final day of our week-long series on Faith In America, we feature a debate between humanist chaplain Greg Epstein, author of "Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe," and conservative pastor Douglas Wilson.