For tonight's Conversation with Great Minds - Thom is joined by Jeff Cohen. Jeff is the founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College - where he is an associate professor of journalism. The former senior producer for MSNBC's "Donahue" program - he has appeared as a political commentator in national media and helped found both the media watchdog group FAIR -- Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting -- as well as the activism site RootsAction.org. Jeff's most recent book is "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media."

Thom is joined by Jeff Shesol, author, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court. He'll talk about how President Obama may be soon facing a crisis with the Supreme Court like one Franklin Roosevelt took on - and how it may play out. To watch this conversation again - as well as other Conversations with Great Minds - go to our website at www.conversationswithgreatminds.com

For tonight's Conversation with Great Minds - Thom is joined by Jeff Cohen. Jeff is the founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College - where he is an associate professor of journalism. The former senior producer for MSNBC's "Donahue" program - he has appeared as a political commentator in national media and helped found both the media watchdog group FAIR -- Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting -- as well as the activism site RootsAction.org. Jeff's most recent book is "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media."

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."

Conversations w/Great Minds: Greg Grandin, Kissinger’s Shadow: The Long Reach of America’s Most Controversial Statesman/History Department-NY University joins Thom. Besides Richard Nixon - the president he served as both National Security Advisor and Secretary of State - there is probably no more controversial modern American political figure than Henry Kissinger. Reviled on the left and admired by many on the right - his legacy is to this day the subject of fierce debate. But whether you love him or hate him - there's one thing most people agree about when it comes to Henry Kissinger - that he's the ultimate cold and calculating statesman - a man of realpolitik. That’s the stereotype - at least.

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!

Dale is the founder and brainchild behind UnCollege - an organization that provides resources for those students pursuing a self-directed path to higher learning. A critic of the traditional higher education system - he left college during his second semester and has been "unschooling" himself ever since. He's also a recipient of the prestigious Thiel Fellowship and a frequent commentator on education at the Washington Post - New York Times - and the Huffington Post. His new book is called Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures - Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More Than Your Peers Ever Will.

Sarah Jaffe, NECESSARY TROUBLE: Americans in Revolt/Nation Institute/Belabored Podcast/Dissent Magazine joins Thom. When Bernie Sanders emerged earlier this year as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination - many mainstream pundits were caught off guard. They simply could not understand how a self-described socialist was close to beating Hillary Clinton. Well - they couldn't understand because they hadn't been paying attention. Contrary to what the talking heads on cable news thought - Bernie's campaign wasn't some kind of magical explosion of populism. It was an extension of the surge in political activism that has emerged out of the 2008 financial crisis - a phenomenon that has seen Americans of all races taking to streets in a way we haven't seen in decades. My next guest has written about this movement in depth - and has traveled across the country to learn from the leaders of this new era in American activism. Joining me now for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds is journalist Sarah Jaffe - author of the new book "Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt." Sarah is also a Fellow at the Nation Institute and the Host of the "Belabored" Podcast for Dissent Magazine.

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!