Renowned environmentalist and author, Dr. Lester Brown joins Thom in the first half hour for "Conversations with Great Minds". Later the show, Thom debates plummeting approval ratings among Republican governors, Congress' approaching debt ceiling deadline and more with his expert guest panelist in the Weekly Rumble.

With a lack of both investigative journalists and transparency in government hactivists like Anonymous are emerging. Enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act to end media monopolies would bring back more independent & investigative news sources.

Jamie Weinstein, Daily Caller, Karen Finney, Democratic Strategist, and Katie Pavlich,Townhall.com join Thom Hartmann for the top issues of the week.

Thom sits down with Dr. Lester R. Brown, President-Earth Policy Institute / Author or co-author of more than 50 books, his latest is "World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse"

Thom sits down with Dr. Lester R. Brown, President-Earth Policy Institute / Author or co-author of more than 50 books, his latest is "World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse"

Thom discusses the issue of Republicans have ulterior motives as far as their lack of cooperation in solving the nation's debt crisis. Later in the show, he debates a proposed law in Georgia which grants taxi drivers to ability to screen passenger identification cards in efforts to single out illegal immigrants.

Right now - sea levels around the world are risng at a faster rate than at any other time in the last 2000 years. That's just the latest inconvenient truth coming from the world's leading environmental scientists And it's clear this is a result of man-made global warming - because for much of the last 2000 years - sea levels were stable or rose at a fraction of a millimeter each year.That was until the turn of the 19th century - when we found a way to harness ancient sunlight like coal and oil for energy - and spew billions of tons of dirty greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Since then - sea levels have been rising at more than 2 millimetrs every year - and speeding up. This conclusion comes on the heels of a new report by leading oceanic scientists who warned that thanks to gloa warming and pollution - the oceans are turning more and more acidic and threatening to wipe out half of all aquatic life around the world - an extinction not seen on the planet in the last 55 million years. So given all these dire warnings of a rapidly changing planet that could kill or displace billions of people around the planet - why are our politicians not doing anything about it? And more importantly - why is our news media not holding them accountable for this inaction? Al Gore knows why. In the most recent edition of Rolling Stone magazine - Gore penned an essay titled, "Climate of Denial" on why it is that global warming is still questioned in America - and not viewed here as a fact ...

David Selig, Conservative Commentator joins Thom. When it comes to Republican Governors enacting radical immigration laws around the country - the race to the bottom continues. Not to be out-done by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's racist "papers, please" law passed last year - Georgia Republican Governor Nathan Deal passed a doozy of an immigration law himself. Like the Arizona law - the Georgia law promotes racial profiling and instructs police officers to check the immigration status of people who don't look like they belong here - as in - people who aren't white Americans. But Georgia's law goes a step further and targets taxi cab drivers too. Under the law - it is illegal for taxi cab drivers to transport any illegal immigrants. That means - it's the responsibility of the cab driver now to ask any new fares for their immigration papers before giving them ride. So how is putting taxi cab drivers in charge of enforcing illegal immigration laws a good idea? Why are these Republican-written anti-immigration laws getting crazier and crazier?

Stephen Webster, Senior Editor-Raw Story, joins Thom Hartmann. Is President Obama illegally spying on American journalists? That's what Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and New York Times reporter James Risen says in an affidavit he filed earlier this week. After publishing a book detailing the CIA's mission to sabIran's nuclear program - Risen claims the CIA started monitoring his incoming and outgoing calls to discover his sources. His surveillance began under the Bush administration and continued through the Obama administration. Risen argues that the CIA campaign against him will, "have a chilling effect on freedom of the press in the United States." So how is this allowed to happen in a nation that's supposed to have freedom of the press?

Amanda Carey, Reporter, Daily Caller.org, joins Thom Hartmann. We're number one! That is...in the size of our prison population. The United States boasts the highest rate of imprisonment than any other developed nation in the world. But that's not enough for some people - specifically the private prison industry. The Justice Policy Institute just released a report detailing how the private prison industry is spending millions of dollars every year to lobby lawmakers around the country to pass tougher laws to throw more people in prison - ideally - private prisons. And it's working. In the last decade - the number of people in prison increased 16% - but the number of people in private federal prisons increased 120%. That's massive profits. In fact - the two largest private prison corporations in the country - the Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group - raked in nearly $3 billion in revenue last year. So isn't this a problem in American that corporations have a direct interest in throwing more and more people in prison - shouldn't we be working on ways to keep people of prison?

Why...Aren't corporate CEOs in jail? Americans opposed TARP - yet TARP passed Americans opposed extending Bush for millionaires and billionaires - yet tax cut extensions passed Americans oppose the foreign wars - yet foreign wars continue Americans oppose oil subsides - yet oil subsidies continue Americans support making corporations pay their fair share Americans support unemployment insurance and food assistance Americans oppose cuts to SS & Medicare It's not Republicans, It's not Democrats It's because of the Money Party w/Michael Collins.

Talisman Energy a company that specializes in Fracking - blowing toxic chemicals underground to extract natural gas - launched a new campaign to make what they do more appealing to children. It's a coloring book for kids starring Talisman Terry - a "Friendly Fracosaurus." - and his adventures around a pristine environment with a smiling sun and happy animals and trees. In fact - the pictures depict that the only difference thing fracking does to the environment is produce a vibrant rainbow. Yes - fracking causes rainbows according to Talisman Energy - you didn't know that? Overall - I guess the Friendly Fracosaurus is a better PR strategy than touting how your company contaminates water supplies all around the country. Unclear if other industries plan to jump on bard with similar campaigns - I can see the nuclear industry's "Radioactive Raccoon" being a big hit -- or BP's "Oily Otter."

Thom talks with political activist, Robert Greenwald about President Obama's plan to partially withdrawal US troops from Afghanistan. They discuss the possible effects resulting from the President's decision and the consensus from the American people. Later in the show, guest conservative panelists, Daniel Halper and Heather Cirmo debate Thom in the "Lone Liberal" rumble.

In Boulder, Colorado the city council will soon consider a referendum to be put on the ballot calling for an amendment to the United States Constitution to strip corporations of the personhood that Court Reporter Davis deceptively gave them more than a century ago. It's a very important step for America.

The Good, The Bad, And the very, very, INDEFATIGABLY Ugly! Wal-Mart vs new threat