For tonight's special hour-long Conversations with Great Minds - I'm joined by legendary journalist Phil Donahue. Phil is a longtime talkshow host - writer - and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show - which ran for 29 years. Phil is also the co-director of the Oscar-nominated 2006 documentary Body of War - which chronicled the life and story of Tomas Young - an Iraq War veteran turned anti-war activist - who recently passed away. Over the course of his career - Phil has received nine Emmy Awards - has been named one of TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time - and has been inducted into Academy of Television and Sciences Hall of Fame.

Turn on the news these days and you're bound to hear some kind of fretting about millennials and their views on the world. Usually - the conversation revolves around questions like "why are millennials so lazy?" or "why do they spend so much time on social media?" - and while questions like that are kind of trite - they have a point. Millennials ARE different from other generations. Very - different in fact - especially when it comes to politics. My guest for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds has tried to find out why. Joining me now now is David Cahn. David is a journalist - an activist - a national leader of the Junior State of America - and an experienced campaign organizer. He also writes for the Huffington Post and along with his brother Jack - is the co-author of "When Millennials Rule: The Reshaping of America."

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!

For tonight's Conversations with Great Minds - I'm joined by one of America's leading experts on nutrition - someone who's been a big influence on people looking to lead healthy lives - including me! Dr. Michael Greger is a licensed Medical Doctor in general practitice specializing in clinical nutrition - and a founding member and fellow at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He's also the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States, and the founder of the Nutrition Facts dot org blog. Dr. Greger is also the author of a number of bestselling books - including his latest "How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease."

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!

Professor Gary May, Professor Emeritus of History-University of Delaware/The Daily Beast/Bending Toward Justice: The Voting Rights Act and the Transformation of American Democracy joins Thom. And over 50 years ago civil rights protestors were brutally beaten while marching to Montgomery, Alabama. That incident sparked the creation of one of the most important pieces of legislation ever written. We’ll be going in-depth on the Voting Rights Act.

Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute & Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, Union of Concerned Scientists join Thom Hartmann. The warming of the climate is unequivocal. That's one of the major findings of a new report put out by the United Nation's International Panel on Climate Change. The report - released every six years - is the most comprehensive report on climate change and global warming. This year's report - worked on by over 800 authors from dozens of countries - won't be released in full until Monday - but the summary for policymakers was released earlier today - and it highlights the report's key findings. Among them - man-made climate change is near certain - and climate change is already effecting extreme and severe weather events across the globe.

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Nation Magazine joins Thom Hartmann. For tonight’s Conversations with Great Minds - we’re going to take a closer look at the momentous decision by the Obama administration to normalize relations with Cuba. First announced on Wednesday - the move - which came after months of secret negotiations - is the most significant shift in American foreign policy towards Latin America in decades. Not surprisingly - it’s also causing a lot of controversy back here in the U.S. - with many Republicans slamming the president for what they say is another example of his “weakness” But what's the real deal with America's new policy towards Cuba? And who stands to benefit most from the end of one of the last remaining Cold War standoffs?

If the 2016 presidential race has proven anything - it's that for Republicans - the facts simply don't matter. Since day one of his campaign - Donald Trump has been making stuff up - and he's now - according to some polls - beating Hillary Clinton - someone who's inarguably one of - if not the most - qualified person ever to run for president. This is shocking - but it should surprise absolutely no one. The Republican Paryt has been living in a world outside the bounds of reason for a long time now. What we're seeing now is just the culmination of a decades-long trend. Which raises the question - how did we get in the situation we're in right now - where one political party, the conservative one, lives in a fantasy world? Joining me now for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds is JP Bernbach - author of the new book "Beyond Reason: Debunking Conservative Lies, Delusions, and Falsehoods and What You Really Need to Know Before You Vote." JP is a board member of the Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century - a former spokesperson for the Democrats Abroad.

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!