The format of the evening is curious. In his calm and fluent voice — “dear friends,” he calls us — he requests that we not ask questions, but make statements, so that he can react to them in a form of dialogue. The academics are not shy. They make statements not only about the need for dialogue and reconciliation, but castigate the Iranian government for chilling press freedoms and for arresting Iranian-American scholars who were only trying to foster better relations between America and Iran. Throughout, Ahmadinejad is courtly, preternaturally calm, and fiercely articulate.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1665579,00.htm
Lunch with Noam Chomsky
http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=2174617&nav/tap2
See also:
http://www.eonline.com/gossip/planetgossip/detail/index.jsp?uuid=8cd47639-c350-445b-b91b-80204d0a5523