Meet the Muslim Jon Stewart

Bassem Youssef is a star in his native Egypt, where he made web videos making fun of now-deposed President Hosni Mubarak‘s government and eventually landed a job hosting a satirical TV show called “El Bernameg” (“The Program”).

But “The Jon Stewart of Egypt” isn’t having an easy time now that Mubarak is out of power. “I’m frustrated,” Youssef said in an interview after a popular Egyptian blogger/activist/critic was held by the police. “The regime hasn’t changed. Everything is the same. People are still being arrested for just being politically active.”

Though “El Bernameg” still airs on Egyptian TV, Youssef says that he can get away with talking freely about some topics and not about others. “Sex and religion are huge taboos here,” he told BusinessWeek. “Nobody can talk about the military council.”