The more information is attempted to be controlled, Lee Brenner told N. Korean defectors, the more those that are creating digital tools will be impassioned to overcome those restrictions. And those creating the tools are smarter than those creating the restrictions.

Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream gives simple advice to aspiring social entrepreneurs: “Do something you are passionate about and start small. This forces you to learn in a hands-on way.”

“In the 10 years since, our lives are now intimately intertwined with smartphones and social media. Out of the ashes of 9/11 came the renewed need to create community and connect with one another.” Now imagine what Twitter would have been like.

Was it poor management? A need to hit revenue targets once News Corp. took over? A bottleneck in the technology department? A lack of resources doled out? Or a poor public relations effort? Former division head Lee Brenner examines MySpace’s demise.

The trial of two American hikers held in Iran since July 2009 was unexpectedly delayed this past week. Joshua Fattal and Shane Bauer never arrived in court for a hearing on Wednesday. We spoke to Joshua’s brother Alex to find out more.

Lee Brenner often talks about how social media tools like Twitter and Facebook are breaking down walls and creating a generation of global citizens. But on Sunday he said a special “thank you” to those heroes that are still willing to break down real walls.

What do you get when you put Sir Richard Branson, The Roots, Pitbull, Russell Simmons, Tony Hsieh, Blake Mycoskie, Imogen Heap, ELEW, Axwell, Sean Stephenson, Lama Tenzin and 1,000 other global leaders on a cruise ship? Summit At Sea.

After hearing their talk at a hateful, anti-Muslim protest in Yorba Linda, California, Lee Brenner thinks Congressman Ed Royce and Gary Miller should be relegated to the outer halls of Congress by Speaker Boehner and then “fired” in 2012.

We can’t get Al Jazeera English on our 300+ channels, yet we have access to Brigham Young University TV and as much porn as we can purchase. After AJE’s coverage of the Egypt and Tunisia protests, cable and satellite operators should re-think that.

There is a stigma to mental health like no other illness in this nation. We talk about cancer. We talk about acne. We even talk about AIDS. We clearly have no problem talking about “erectile dysfunction.” But as a society, mental health is rarely discussed.

Lee Brenner takes a look at the Summit Series 2010, as invites begin to roll out for the 2011 Summit, set on a 3-day cruise w young social entrepreneurs.

Assuming election forecasting guru Nate Silver is correct, and a Speaker Boehner is an inevitability in the next Congress, it may be beneficial to actually making some progress on the major problems facing the nation.

Like the deep-dish pizzas of Lee Brenner’s hometown, we live in a time of severely contrasting societal textures and tastes. Now how the heck does that relate to politics?!