What can we learn from 400 years of African American contribution, work and struggle? Dr. Keisha Blain's newest book examines the community that survived America.

Dr. Keisha Blain joined Thom to discuss the new book, Four Hundred Souls: A Community of African America.

Kurt Walters, Public Campaign Action Fund & Bob Edgar, Common Cause & Shane Larson, Communication Workers of America (CWA) all join Thom Hartmann. Imagine how productive Congress would be if the filibuster were a thing of the past. Things would actually get done on Capitol Hill for the benefit of ALL Americans. But is saying goodbye to the filibuster even realistic? For tonight's Bigger Picture discussion we're going to tackle the issue of the filibuster: what it is, it's history, how it's been used, and what are the current political dynamics shaping filibuster reform.

Thom Hartmann Conversations With Great Minds with Michael Ratner, Pres. The Center for Constitutional Rights Part 2. The Center for Constitutional Rights, which Michael Ratner leads, states that its mission it to defend civil liberties in the US. The group's efforts have included a legal challenge to theUSA PATRIOT Act and a lawsuit on behalf of post-9/11 immigration detainees in the US. The Center also representated Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was sent, orrendered, to Syria, where he was tortured. Ratner and his office have also sued two private military contracting companies in Iraq, alleging their employees were involved in the abuses and torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

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!

Dr. Michael McDonald, Global Resilience Initiatives joins Thom Hartmann. The planet is warming at an unprecedented rate and financial markets are becoming more and more unstable. Is our society prepared to cope with an uncertain - and possibly chaotic future?

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.

Marianne Engelman Lado, Earthjustice & Alexis Baden Mayer, Organic Consumers Association & David Murphy, Food Democracy Now
This past week - two counties in Oregon passed laws banning GMO's - much to the dismay of genetically modified food companies like Monsanto. Where does the fight to ban GMOs stand today - and how can Americans fight back against mountains of corporate cash from the GM industry?