Sarah Jaffe, NECESSARY TROUBLE: Americans in Revolt/Nation Institute/Belabored Podcast/Dissent Magazine joins Thom. When Bernie Sanders emerged earlier this year as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination - many mainstream pundits were caught off guard. They simply could not understand how a self-described socialist was close to beating Hillary Clinton. Well - they couldn't understand because they hadn't been paying attention. Contrary to what the talking heads on cable news thought - Bernie's campaign wasn't some kind of magical explosion of populism. It was an extension of the surge in political activism that has emerged out of the 2008 financial crisis - a phenomenon that has seen Americans of all races taking to streets in a way we haven't seen in decades. My next guest has written about this movement in depth - and has traveled across the country to learn from the leaders of this new era in American activism. Joining me now for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds is journalist Sarah Jaffe - author of the new book "Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt." Sarah is also a Fellow at the Nation Institute and the Host of the "Belabored" Podcast for Dissent Magazine.

Sarah Jaffe, NECESSARY TROUBLE: Americans in Revolt/Nation Institute/Belabored Podcast/Dissent Magazine joins Thom. When Bernie Sanders emerged earlier this year as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination - many mainstream pundits were caught off guard. They simply could not understand how a self-described socialist was close to beating Hillary Clinton. Well - they couldn't understand because they hadn't been paying attention. Contrary to what the talking heads on cable news thought - Bernie's campaign wasn't some kind of magical explosion of populism. It was an extension of the surge in political activism that has emerged out of the 2008 financial crisis - a phenomenon that has seen Americans of all races taking to streets in a way we haven't seen in decades. My next guest has written about this movement in depth - and has traveled across the country to learn from the leaders of this new era in American activism. Joining me now for tonight's Conversations with Great Minds is journalist Sarah Jaffe - author of the new book "Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt." Sarah is also a Fellow at the Nation Institute and the Host of the "Belabored" Podcast for Dissent Magazine.

Kris Ullman, Conservative Commentator/Activist & Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange/CodePink/Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection & Scott Greer, The Daily Caller all join Thom. On Wednesday Maine's governor Paul LePage sounded pretty racist when he explained how he knows who the enemy is - saying: "I made the comment that black people are trafficking in our state, now ever since I said that comment I've been collecting every single drug dealer who has been arrested in our state. … and I will tell you that 90-plus percent of those pictures in my book, … are black and Hispanic people from Waterbury, Connecticut - the Bronx - and Brooklyn."

Kris Ullman, Conservative Commentator/Activist & Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange/CODEPINK/Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection & Scott Greer, The Daily Caller all join Thom. So - isn't Hillary Clinton wrong here - haven't right wing extremists - racists - and white nationalists been at the heart of the Republican party since at least 1968?

Thom discusses Hillary’s continued pitch to Republican voters, how Republican secretaries of state have already rigged the election, and Maine Governor Paul LePage’s hilarious voicemail. In tonight’s Conversations with Great Minds Thom discusses 21st century activism with labor journalist Sarah Jaffe, author of the new book “NECESSARY TROUBLE: Americans in Revolt.”

Multinational corporations like Apple aren't just greedy - they're unpatriotic.

If you've ever seen an advertisement from the Pete Peterson foundation - you've heard the fearmongering that says that social security won't be around for today's young people and that it will inevitably run out of money even if immigrants aren't "jumping the line" to collect un-earned social security benefits. The real question is - why are there so many lies about social security - and what's the truth? Let's ask Steven Hill - co-founder of FairVote - former Director of the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation joins.

Greg Palast, Rolling Stone Magazine/Billionaires & Ballot Bandits/Crosscheck joins Thom. Voter Suppression ID laws get all the attention - but the Republican war on democracy is a lot darker and scarier than most people realize.

Thom discusses Trump’s immigration flip-flop and the soaring price of Epipen with attorney and radio host Mike Papantonio, why we need to expand social security with the Center for Voting & Democracy’s Steven Hill, author of the new book “Expand Social Security Now: How to Ensure Americans Get the Retirement They Deserve,” and the GOP’s war against voters with Rolling Stone’s Greg Palast. And in tonight’s Daily take Thom discusses how un-American our nation’s CEOs are.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its allies from other indigenous nations are protesting the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Once finished - the pipeline will bring oil almost 1200 miles from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota all the way to Illinois. Although the project was approved by the government -the Standing Rock Sioux say their interests and historical claims were not taken into account when that decision was made. Which is why they've now brought their protest right here to Washington, DC. Today - the Standing Rock Sioux asked a federal judge to put the Dakota Access pipeline on hold. They also led a really outside the court - which was attended by people from around the country - including actresses Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley. Joining me now is the woman who MC'd today's rally - Bobbi Jean Three Legs - a Youth Organizer with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

If we want to fix voting in America - then we need to do away with local control once and for all.

Harvey Wasserman, Solartopia/The Strip & Flip Selection Of 2016: Five Jim Crows & Electronic Election Theft joins Thom. In nuke news...When New York Governor Andrew Cuomo first announced his Clean Energy Standard back in December - it certainly sounded great. After all - under the Governor's plan - the Empire State was set to get 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. It soon became clear - however - that Governor Cuomo had a very - very different understanding of "renewable" energy" than most of the rest of us. Although he did put forward plans to boost the amount of energy New York gets from solar and wind power - the Governor's Clean Energy Standard also included plans to prop up New York's failing and dangerous nuclear power sector

Jason Russell, Washington Examiner & Zaid Jilani, The Intercept & Alex Pfeiffer, The Daily Caller all join Thom. On Monday - former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros filed a lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court alleging that "Fox News masquerades as defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny." The suit alleges that Bill O'Reilly invited her to stay with him on Long Island where it would be "very private" and that she could show him her "wild side" She also alleges that Ailes' made inappropriate comments about a number of Fox personalities to Tantaros - and that when she complained to Senior Executive Bill Shine - he told her that she "needed to let this one go." After Ailes' left Fox - Shine was elevated to Vice President - meaning women probably shouldn't expect a lot of change at Fox anytime soon. This kind of sexual harassment was considered "normal" in workplaces around the country 40 years ago - and it's still common in a lot of places - especially smaller companies in red states. So when is the GOP going to reject this sort of "traditional" sexism and actually vote for the Equal Rights Amendment? Or does the GOP think that this type of sexism is part of what used to make America great?

Jason Russell, Washington Examiner & Zaid Jilani, The Intercept & Alex Pfeiffer, The Daily Caller all join Thom. An average of 36 people a day have been killed for the last seven weeks in the Philippines because of Duterte's war against drugs - would Donald "let's be very much tougher" Trump go even further to try and completely end crime in America by killing everybody he considers suspicious?

Tonight’s Rumble talks the deadly war on drugs going on in the Philippines, whether Republicans will stop playing politics with funding for the Zika virus, and the latest sexual lawsuit filed against Fox News and Roger Ailes. Thom discusses how New York is bailing out their state’s nuclear power plants with activist and author Harvey Wasserman and in tonight’s Daily take Thom details how important local funding is for our democracy.