Global activist and former green jobs advisor to President Obama, Van Jones, Co-founder of RebuildTheDream.com joins Thom Hartmann for "Conversations with Great Minds"

Wendell Potter, Nation On the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It (w/Nick Penniman)/Center for Public Integrity/Center for Media and Democracy, joins Thom. The United States of America is now - for lack of a better word - the best democracy money can buy. Billionaire oligarchs like the Koch Brothers now outspend political parties - members of congress spend most of their day begging for donations instead of writing new laws - and lobbyists make millions and billions selling access to the commons. Needless to say - this is not the world our founding fathers envisioned when the declared a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." We are now - as my guest for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds has titled his new book - A "Nation on the Take." So how did we get to this point? And how can we reform our campaign finance system to reclaim the democratic institutions our founders created?

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!

My guest for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds is one of the world's leading political scientists. Currently the Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University - Robert D. Putnam, who has been called "the most influential academic in the world." He has advised three U.S. presidents - and has won a number of distinguished awards. Professor Putnam's 2000 book Bowling Alone is considered a classic of its kind - an was a national besteller. His new book - "Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis" - is a fascinating and challenging look at our nation's deep crisis of opportunity.

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!

Brian Miller, Executive Director - United for a Fair Economy (UFE) & co-author of the new book The Self-Made Myth: And the Truth about How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed. Donald Trump and other 1 percenters will tell you they succeeded without help from the government - but our Great Mind for tonight will say that's not true. How has the self-made myth taken over American society - and how can we challenge it?

Nancy Cohen, PhD, Author - "Delirium: How the Sexual Counterrevolution is Polarizing America." joins Thom Hartmann. The battles over marriage equality and birth control are more than just contentious political debates. They're part of a larger movement that has engulfed Washington for the past 40 years...

For tonight's Conversations with Great Minds - Thom is joined by Gerald Posner. Gerald Posner was one of the youngest attorneys ever hired by the Wall Street law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and is the author of eleven books - including New York Times bestsellers - and one a finalist for the Pulitzer in History. Gerald has written dozens of articles for national magazines and papers and has been a regular contributor to a variety of television networks. He's also the author of the new book, "God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican."

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. Joe Romm, Climate Progress joins Thom Hartmann. Right now - we still have have a chance to save our planet from the greatest threat it's ever faced: climate change. But at what point will our efforts be in vain? At what point will climate change become permanent?