Akbar Ganji is Iran’s most prominent political dissident. He is a man of ideas and a man of action, a writer and a journalist. His articles have been collected in books such as The Dungeon of Ghosts, and The Red Eminence, The Grey Eminences, which expose the leadership of Iran’s involvement in a series of killings of writers and dissidents. His subsequent imprisonment for this courageous exercise of freedom of the press led to torture. From his jail cell he has written A Republican Manifesto, laying out the basis for a full-fledged democracy in Iran. His extraordinary, courageous efforts won him international recognition, and he is a winner of the 2006 World Association of Newspapers prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom Award. © 2007, The University of Chicago.

Recorded Thursday, September 28, 2006 at International House.