Over the weekend, U.S. retail sales climbed 16 percent, hitting a record total of $52.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. The average shopper spent $398.62 during the holiday weekend. Despite these promising retail numbers, other economic indicators aren't as positive this week. 

With Thanksgiving approaching, how many notches you'll have to relax that belt buckle won't be the only question people will be asking. Much of the focus will be on air safety and retail sales. Many travelers are not happy about the latest security measures the TSA is using for secondary screening, including full-body scans and thorough pat-downs. Many see both as extremely invasive, but the TSA says that both measures will stay. Callie Crossley, host of "The Callie Crossley Show" at WGBH in Boston, will see if any changes will come as Thanksgiving quickly approaches.

• Protest Takeout: A terror plot abroad a Northwest Airlines flight has angered Muslims in Dearborn, Mich., to stand up against radical Islam. Majed Moughni, an attorney in Dearborn, talks to us about demonstrations he is organizing.
• Returns Takeout: Hitha Prabhakar, a retail analyst in New York City, warns that  many retail stores have tricky post-holiday return policies. So, pay very close attention to the fine print.
• Listeners Takeout: Takeaway listeners respond to the fallout from this weekend’s airline safety incident aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

Have you ever wondered why – while you’re out holiday shopping – a dress shop might play one soundtrack of Christmas songs while a hardware store might play another? Steven Pilker, manager of Muzak’s audio architecture department, knows the answers.  For our continuing series, "Remixing the Holidays," Pilker explains what all the retail noise is about...and shares the three songs that must be on every holiday soundtrack, regardless of what the store sells.

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.

• 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.

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.

Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times, and Nazes Afroz, executive editor for the Asia-Pacific region for the BBC, take a look at what's ahead for Indian prime minister Mahmohan Singh's first visit to the White House this week. They'll also take a look at what's ahead in Afghanistan; what's next in health care reform; what retailers can expect on Black Friday; and another week for Sarah Palin's book tour.

• Business Takeout: New York Times reporter Louise Story assesses the financial implications of Oprah's departure from ABC.
  
• Listener Takeout: Listeners tell us whether they'll fall prey to the tactics of luxury retailers this holiday season.
• Movie Takeout: New York Times film critic A.O. Scott tells us about the new movies out this weekend.
  

• Washington Takeout: Todd Zwillich was at a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday where Attorney General Eric Holder defended his decision to try confessed 9/11 'mastermind' Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court in New York.
  
• Business Takeout: Retailers are struggling this holiday season, but luxury sellers like Saks Fifth Avenue are cutting inventory, so consumers can't count on blowout sales. New York Times reporter Louise Story explains this novel approach.
• Listeners: We received a lot of responses to yesterday's story about a physicians' group recommending people wait for particular cancer screenings.

Retail sales jumped 2.7 percent in August, the biggest increase in three and a half years. The government's "Cash-for-Clunkers" sales factored into that jump, but even without that program, sales rose 1.1 percent. Do these numbers mean the economy's on the upswing? To help us answer this, we talk to Kelly Evans, reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Reports are trickling out that say the economy is on a slow upswing. But is it really? The Takeaway talks to two small business owners. Jack Bernstein, who owns a corporate catering business and retail sandwich shop owner in Miami, says that business is down. Ed Snively, a real estate broker in El Centro, California, says that business is way up from last year.

President-elect Barack Obama has called for an economic stimulus package in stark terms, but can his cautionary words and economic plan be effective amidst widespread unemployment and incredibly bleak retail sales? Maya MacGuineas, Director of New America Foundation's Fiscal Policy Program, and Jamie Jones, a reporter for the Dalton, Georgia Daily Citizen, join John to continue our economic roundtable.

Listen to part one of our economic roundtable.

In case you missed the President-elect's speech, here it is courtesy of AP/Youtube.

For retailers November and December were grim, but they’re likely to look like the good old days compared with the post-holiday months. New York Times reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom joins The Takeaway with her analysis of the alarming facts and figures on retail sales.

Retailers were not supposed to begin filing for bankruptcy until after January 1. But it seems the fallout from poor holiday sales has already begun. On Monday, the Parent Company became the first well-known retailer to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after Christmas. New York Times reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom joins The Takeaway with the details.

With more people out of work during the holidays, shoplifting is on the rise. Ian Urbina, reporter for The New York Times, talks about the vulnerablity as well as the sympathy retailers feel for their customers.