Elaine Clark is a Hoosier, and studied folklore and Germanic studies at Indiana University. She earned a master's degree in Middle East studies from the University of Utah, which included a year of academic research and work for an education NGO in the West Bank. From 2004 to 2019, Elaine was a producer for KUER's flagship interview program RadioWest. In her free time, Elaine dreams about her former days as a rugby fullback, wanders the desert and mountains with her husband and stepdaughter, and, as a self-confessed history nerd, reads 19th century newspapers and census records for sport.
Black Friday comes this year amid supply chain issues and soaring prices, but that doesn’t appear to be dampening the spirits of U.S. shoppers. Marketing professor Russell Belk examines the history of gift-giving. As we head into a Black Friday buying frenzy, Pamela McCall spoke with him about the pent-up desire to give gifts in the second holiday season of the pandemic.