Veteran anti-consumerist crusader Reverend Billy takes aim at climate change
Reverend Billy, the flamboyant "altar-ego" of New York performance artist William Talen, celebrates 20 years of crusading with his Stop Shopping Choir.
For more than 20 years the performance artist known as Reverend Billy — real name, Bill Talen — has been crusading against consumerism in New York and abroad. I first met him in early 2000, when I recorded his attempt to exorcise a cash register in the Disney Store on Times Square.
"People, tourists, listen to me," Reverend Billy called out in the flagship store. "Mickey Mouse is the anti-Christ. This is the devil!"
Chain stores, especially Starbucks, were the targets of the Reverend Billy's wrath as he railed against "the sea of identical details." He blamed them for destroying mom-and-pop businesses all over America. Back then, Talen was known
