Dylan Ratigan is off today.  Matt Miller (@mattmillernow) will host from New York.

To start the show, we’re again talking “War on Trial.”  Just this morning, Gen. John Allen, then man in charge of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said the U.S. must keep a significant combat presence there next year despite growing public concerns about the impact of multiple redeployments on the mental health of our troops.  We’ll talk to Nick Colgin, IAVA Membership Coordinator, and Afghanistan Veteran and  Dr. Harry Croft, a psychiatrist and Fmr. Army Doctor San Antonio, TX who has worked closely with hundreds of soldiers suffering from PTSD.

The Thursday Megapanel: Jimmy Williams (@jimmyspolitics), Karen Finney (@finneyk) and Susan Del Percio (@delpercios) are here.  President Obama had not one but two speeches on energy today — this morning in Oklahoma, where he issued an executive order for federal agencies to get moving on a portion of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.  We’ll talk about his energy plans, and how they’re being received nationwide.

The Specialist: Does Living Alone Mean “Lonely?” Lonely, depressed — that’s the stereotype of people who live alone.  But if that’s the case, why are so many people happily living solo?  Back in 1950, only 9% of Americans lived alone.  Now, it’s 1 in 7.  Is being alone really that bad?  Our Specialist today is standing up for all the solo folks out there — Eric Klinenberg, Professor of Sociology at New York University.  He’s the author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.

Can Religion be Useful to Athiests?  One of our guests today is a self-proclaimed atheist, who believes that people who are religious can actually help Atheists live a better life. We’ll be joined by Alain de Botton, a great “modern philosopher” and author of the book Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion.

The Daily Rant: We’ll hear from Imogen Lloyd Webber (@illoydwebber) with a provocative question — is Mad Men the most feminist-leaning show on television? She thinks so — tune in to hear why!