In this era of TV news, where inane talking heads, cheesy American flag icons and annoying news crawls dominate channels like MSNBC and Fox, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill offers serious political commentary without the useless back-and-forth arguing between pundits. This week, the longest-running public affairs program on PBS comes to St. Pete for a live taping, and WEDU is offering free tickets. The special Tampa Bay edition features panelists Gloria Borger, a senior political analyst for CNN and columnist for U.S. News & World Report; Jeanne Cummings, chief money and lobbying correspondent for Politico; National Journal Political Correspondent James Barnes; and Todd Purdum, Vanity Fair's national editor and political correspondent. To register for tickets to the show, visit wedu.org. Fri., Feb. 15, 3-5 p.m., Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Pete, free admission.
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2008.