Every year we strive to bring you a wonderful variety of progressive activist, authors, and politicians who are working on the front lines for peace and justice.

We are excited to announce confirmed speakers for Fighting Bob Fest 10 at the Coliseum of the Alliant Energy Center- September 17, 2011

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has represented Wisconsin’s Second District since 1999. She is the first woman from Wisconsin, the first out lesbian, and the first openly-gay non-incumbent elected to Congress. From her seats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee, Baldwin plays a key role in formulating national policy on health care reform, energy independence, climate change, civil rights, and executive accountability. A fierce advocate for those whose voices are often not heard, Baldwin is a firm believer in the power of the grassroots to create change.

Ellen Bravo
Ellen Bravo is a long-time activist for working women.

Tom Geoghegan
Thomas Geoghegan received national attention when he ran as a progressive candidate for Rahm Emanuel’s congressional seat in 2009 (and was endorsed by Barbara Ehrenreich, James Fallows, Thomas Frank, James K. Galbraith, Hendrik Hertzberg, Alex Kotlowitz, Sara Paretsky, Rick Perlstein, Katha Pollitt, David Sirota, Garry Wills, and Naomi Wolf, among others). He is a practicing attorney and the author of several books, including Which Side Are You On?, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and received a special citation from the PEN/Martha Albrand Award judges, In America’s Court, and See You in Court. Geoghegan has written for The Nation, the New York Times, and Harper’s. He lives in Chicago.

Raging Grannies (Madison)
The Raging Grannies are social justice activists, all women old enough to be grandmothers, who dress up in clothes that mock stereotypes of older women, and sing songs at protests. They typically write the lyrics themselves, putting their political messages to the tunes of well known songs.

Stan Gruszynski
Stan Gruszynski directs the Rural Leadership and Community Development Program within the Global Environmental Management (GEM) Education Center at the Stevens Point College of Natural Resources.

Thom Hartmann
Thom Hartmann is the four-time Project Censored Award Winning, New York Times bestselling author of more than 21 books in print. Now carried on over 100 radio and TV stations, Talker's Magazine rated The Thom Hartmann Program as the number 1 progressive radio show in America. He's syndicated syndicated in radio and TV by Dial-Global, Pacifica, and Free Speech TV on The Dish Network and Direct TV.

Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower has spoken at every Fighting Bob Fest but one, and has spent more than 30 years in the trenches of public debate on behalf of consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and “just-plain-folks.” Hightower is a New York Times best-selling author of seven books. His newspaper column is distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate. He broadcasts daily radio commentaries that are carried in more than 150 commercial and public stations, on the web, and on Radio for Peace International. He publishes the award-winning monthly newsletter, "The Hightower Lowdown," which now has more than 135,000 subscribers and is the fastest growing political publication in the United States. He is the former editor of the Texas Observer and was twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich

Daniel Kunene
Daniele Kunene is a professor emeritus in the Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Peter Leidy
Peter Leidy is a singer, songwriter, and award-winning commentator on life in Wisconsin. His humorous observations involve politics, Wisconsin culture, the Madison scene, and personalized songs for individuals and special events.

Mike McCabe
Mike McCabe is one of Wisconsin's leading whistle blowers. He shines light in dark places at the Capitol as executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks the money in state politics, fights government corruption and works for reforms that make people matter more than money in politics.

John Nichols
John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times and the national political writer for The Nation magazine.

Congressman Dave Obey
Congressman Dave Obey frequently cites Fighting Bob La Follette in his speeches and writings and says the “bedrock belief of the Wisconsin La Follette Progress tradition” that “every American who works hard should be able to fully share in the bounty of America” is the foundation for his work as an elected official. When Obey was elected to the House of Representatives in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District in 1969, after three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, he was the youngest member of Congress. When Obey announced his retirement this year, he was the longest-serving member of Congress in Wisconsin's history and the third-longest serving current member of the House. Obey is the only Democrat in the House to have served on the Budget Committee, the Joint Economic Committee and the Committee on Appropriations.

Greg Palast
Greg Palast's investigative reports can be seen on BBC Television Newsnight. Palast, author of the New York Times bestsellers Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, is a Nation Institute/Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow for investigative reporting.

Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine, the director of the Progressive Media Project, the host of "Progressive Radio," the Progressive Point of View commentator, the author of "You Have No Rights: Stories of America in an Age of Repression," and the editor of the forthcoming anthology "The Best of The Progressive: 1909-2009."

Senator Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.

Tony Schultz
Tony Schultz is a third generation family farmer-- get ready for a populist stem-winder!

Nancy Unger
Nancy C. Unger is author of the prize winning biography Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer. She believes that understanding the stunning parallels between the original progressive era and our own provides both inspiration and effective reform tools.

David Zweifel