As the number of people living on planet earth grows by the minute - we are sitting on a ticking time bomb - all 7 billion of us. So does overpopulation actually pose a bigger threat than climate change? I'll ask activist and author Karen Shragg in tonight's Conversations with Great Minds.

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!

Journalist/Author Max Blumenthal, The 51 Day War-Ruin and Resistance in Gaza/Alternet joins Thom. My guest for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds is award-winning journalist and author Max Blumenthal. Currently a Senior writer at Alternet and a former fellow at the Nation Institute - Max is one of the leading American journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He’s reported on the ground from war-torn Gaza and has written a series of bestelling books on the topic - including his latest "The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza" - a must-read account of the 2014 conflict that destroyed 10,000 homes - killed 2,200 people - and displaced 300,000 others.

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!

During his first presidential campaign - then Senator Barack Obama said that people would look back on his time in office and say that that was the "moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal" But has he really lived up to his own high standard on climate policy? I'll ask Dr. Michael Dorsey in tonight's Conversations with Great Minds. Dr. Michael Dorsey is currently the Interim Director of the Energy and Environment Program at the Joint Center for Political and Economic studies - where he works to combine the study of climate policy with the study of social justice issues. Before taking this position - Dr. Dorsey taught environmental studies at Wesleyan University and Darthmouth University. He was also a member of Barack Obama's energy and environment campaign team in 2008 and is on the Environmental Protection Agency's national advisory committee.

Craig Unger, Journalist /Author, latest is "Boss Rove: Inside Karl Rove's Secret Kingdom of Power" joins Thom Hartmann. Karl Rove plans to spend as much as half billion dollars this election to defeat President Obama and Democrats. What's motivating him - and what happens to America if he succeeds?

Greg Palast, BBC News / Al Jazeera / The Guardian / Vultures and Vote Rustlers & Brad Friedman, The Brad Blog join Thom Hartmann. Americans love to think they're number one at everything. But when it comes to the integrity of our election process - new studies say that we're more like 26th. Why is that?

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!

Sasha Reuther, Producer/Director joins Thom Hartmann. His latest project is the documentary film, "Brothers On The Line" - A provocative historical narrative of power, commitment, and brotherhood, the film explores the legacy of union organizers and social justice statesman Walter, Roy, and Victor Reuther (his grandfather) and their leadership of the United Auto Workers (UAW). With the rise of the American automobile industry came the rise of organized labor - but the fight for workers' rights did not come easy in the Motor City. These three men helped lead the charge to bring unions to Detroit - and revolutionized the American workplace at the same time.