Stewart Acuff, "Playing Bigger Than You Are" & Karen Nussbaum, Working America & Bill Spriggs, AFL CIO, joins Thom Hartmann. Today is May Day. Workers and activists from all over the world gathered to celebrate labor's achievements and demand social justice. With the wealth gap widening and union membership here in the United States at its lowest in decades - May Day is as important now as ever. After the break - I'll talk to tonight's Bigger Picture Panelists about the future of the labor movement and what workers are doing right now to fight back against the one percent.

Dr. Clarence Lusane, Howard University/District of Columbia Commission on African American Affairs/The Black History of the White House joins Thom. Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice both played a prominent role in the one of the most destructive presidencies in American history. How did the Bush administration use their racial idenitity to justify its adventures abroad? I'll ask Professor Clarence Lusane 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!

Thom Hartmann sits down with nuclear energy specialist Robert Alvarez for Conversations with Great Minds. In light of the largest radiation detection at the Daiichi plant in Japan - Should we have a nuclear renaissance or a clean renewable energy renaissance?

Eyal Press, Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times joins Thom Hartmann. For Tonight's Conversations with Great Minds...we examine the question of what leads people to stand up - dissent - and show true moral courage during times of crisis - especially when there's great risk in doing so. What's drives these resisters - whistblowers - conscientious objectors - who throughout history have tried to warn entire societies of the risk of succumbing to authority and convention. It's a question tonight's guest sought ought to answer - by going all the way back to World War 2 and telling stories of those who've defied the Nazis. And later - stories of those who defied their own communities and governments and set their guns downs rather than fight a way they didn't believe in. And those who today are taking on Corporate America. Eyal Press is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Nation. He is a past recipient of the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. And he is the author of the book we'll explore tonight - Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times"

For tonight's Conversations with Great Minds - Thom is joined by award-winning author David O. Stewart. Formerly a trial lawyer here in Washington, D.C. - David is also the president of the Washington Independent Review of Books. He's written a number of books about American history as well a mystery novel and won the 2013 History Prize from the Society of the Cincinnati. David Stewart's new book - "Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America" - is a fascinating look into the friendships that made James Madison into the revolutionary leader he was.

Wenonah Hauter, Food and Water Watch/Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment joins Thom. President Obama has done more to fight global warming than any other president in history. So why does he still support fracking? Fracking supporters - like President Obama - say it's a bridge fuel to a clean energy future. But is that really the case? And is the natural gas boom actually just making it harder to us to make the transition to renewables?

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 - Thom is joined by award-winning author David O. Stewart. Formerly a trial lawyer here in Washington, D.C. - David is also the president of the Washington Independent Review of Books. He's written a number of books about American history as well a mystery novel and won the 2013 History Prize from the Society of the Cincinnati. David Stewart's new book - "Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America" - is a fascinating look into the friendships that made James Madison into the revolutionary leader he was.