Jeff Goodell, author of "Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future," has a reality check for George Bush on this week's show: "The idea of coal as an alternative fuel is hilarious. There is nothing alternative about coal. It's the rock that fueled the industrial revolution."
Also, we meet Mother Jones' new Washington bureau chief James Ridgeway, fresh from the Village Voice. We check in with Mother Jones correspondent Ken Miller, whose article in the current issue looks at Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine. It would be a huge gold mine -- right next to the world's largest salmon fishery. Can economic and environmental interests come to a compromise? Finally, we discuss Iran and Iraq with professor and blogger Juan Cole.