Conversations w/Great Minds - Rick Perlstein, Invisible Bridge: The Fall Of Richard Nixon And The Rise of Ronald Reagan joins Thom Hartmann.

Maya Schenwar, Truthout / Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better

From the mountains of Pakistan to the border with Mexico - drones are America's 21st Century weapon of choice. What's fueling the rise of remote control warfare? I'll ask Code Pink Co-Founder Medea Benjamin in tonight's Conversation with Great Minds. Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control

In this week's Conversations With Great Minds we'll meet a true pioneer who may well help revolutionize your relationship with our healthcare system. For tonight's Conversations with Great Minds I am joined by Dr. Peter Beilenson. He currently heads up the Health Deparment in Howard County, Maryland where he and his team have launched the Healthy Howard Intiative - a program that joins individuals, businesses, schools, community organizations and government to ceate and make accessible healthy alternatives in many different aspects of daily life for county residents. For 13 years he served as the Health Commissioner of Baltimore City in Maryland where his vision led to expanded drug treatment programs, improved immunization compliance, a wide range of extremely effective lead poisoning prevention initiatives, juvenile violence prevention, and the creation of the state-wide initiative for universal health coverage in Maryland called "Health Care for All" He is also the founder of "The Evergreen Project" - an initiative that was inspired by a provision in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and seeks to create healthcare co-ops that cut costs to both patients and providers while making sure that excellent health care is avaialble to communities. Dr. Beilenson was chosen as an Utne Reader visionary in 2011 - joining a distinguished list of individuals who - as described by the Editors of the publication - "are world visionaries who don't just concoct great ideas but also act on them."

Alyssa Katz, THE INFLUENCE MACHINE: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Capture of American Life joins Thom. How DID the Chamber of Commerce get so powerful? And what does that say about the corporate capture of our democracy?

For more information on the stories we've covered visit our websites at thomhartmann.com - freespeech.org - and RT.com. You can also watch tonight's show on Hulu - at Hulu.com/THE BIG PICTURE and over at The Big Picture YouTube page. And - be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

Dr. Michael Mann, Climate Scientist / Professor & Director-Penn State Earth System Science Center / Author-"Dire Predictions" and "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars" joins Thom Hartmann. Despite clear evidence of climate change occurring - the number of climate change deniers in this country is on the rise. Who is bankrolling the phony science behind the deniers - and why is there a war on scientific freedom underway in America?

What drives resisters, whistleblowers and conscientious objectors? P1 Eyal Press, Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times joins Thom Hartmann. For Tonight's Conversations with Great Minds...we examine the question of what leads people to stand up - dissent - and show true moral courage during times of crisis - especially when there's great risk in doing so. What's drives these resisters - whistblowers - conscientious objectors - who throughout history have tried to warn entire societies of the risk of succumbing to authority and convention. It's a question tonight's guest sought ought to answer - by going all the way back to World War 2 and telling stories of those who've defied the Nazis. And later - stories of those who defied their own communities and governments and set their guns downs rather than fight a way they didn't believe in. And those who today are taking on Corporate America. Eyal Press is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Nation. He is a past recipient of the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. And he is the author of the book we'll explore tonight - Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times"