When Iranian President Ahmadinejad spoke to audiences in New York, one of his standard talking points was the claim that Iran is the freest country in the world. Below is an open letter written by the wife of Mehdi Karroubi, one of the candidates for president in the contested 2009 election and perhaps the most courageous and outspoken critic of the regime subsequently.

Fatemeh and Mehdi Karroubi have been under the most stringent house arrest, constantly surrounded by security thugs and denied even the most basic human rights, for the past eight months. They have never been charged with a crime and have never appeared in any court. They were tried, convicted and sentenced at the whim of senior leaders of the Islamic Revolution for reasons of their own. 

The Karroubis are not exceptions. Thousands of Iranians have been arrested and held on a variety of charges that all boil down to the fact that they dared to be critical of the existing leadership of Iran

Jack Abbott is the Organizer TEDxSanDiego and TEDxYouth@SanDiego, a TEDx event in San Diego, California. This is his experience from Tuesday, March 1st at TEDActive

As a TEDx organizer and 4-year TEDActive attendee, you’d think I’d take TED in stride by now. I came to TED 2011…

Know ten female chefs who really shine?

Here are some of the trailblazers garnering buzz and prestige the nation over, all of whom were starred in 2011.

San Francisco is home to Suzette Gresham-Tognetti of Acuerello, Lissa Doumani of Ame, Boulevard’s Nancy Oakes, Melissa…