Already required viewing among the dreaded media-class, opinion-shapers and DC power-crowd, Topic A connects to people eager to be connected to the pulse of ideas that shape our lives.

In the first segment of the show, Topic A explores the week's most compelling and salient story from a perspective usually missed by the cacophony of cable commentators. Then there is an intimate conversation with a newsmaker or creative force who has managed to generate that coveted currency called "buzz." Finally, the Editor’s Desk Roundtable where Topic A regulars -- Tina Brown's hand-picked media mujahadeen -- who swap opinions on the topics people everywhere cannot not talk about.

Topic A guests have included:

Actors: George Clooney, Alec Baldwin, Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody

Politicians: Sen. John McCain, Mario Cuomo, Rev. Pat Robertson, Sen. Gary Hart, Sen. Bob Kerrey, Ed Koch

Media Moguls: Michael Eisner, Barry Diller, Russell Simmons, Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves, Mort Zuckerman

Journalists: Dan Rather, Bill O’Reilly, Christiane Amanpour, Anderson Cooper, P.J. O’Rourke, Paul Krugman

Royalty: Queen Noor, Queen Latifah

She made a lifelong detour into journalism in 1973, writing for the London Sunday Times, The New Statesman and The Sunday Telegraph. Brown won the Catherine Pakenham Award for Most Promising Female Journalist of the Year in 1973. Her early writing was collected in two books: "Life As a Party" and "Loose Talk."

Brown's editorial reputation for revitalizing publications began at "Tatler" magazine, then a nearly defunct, 270-year-old "society" magazine in London. Brown was named editor-in-chief in 1979, at the age of 25. During her tenure, which ended in 1983, the magazine's circulation rose by 300%. It was purchased by Condé Nast in 1982.

S.I. Newhouse, chairman of Condé Nast, invited Brown in 1983 to move to the United States to be the editor-in-chief of the recently launched and seriously ailing "Vanity Fair" magazine. Under her direction, from 1984 to 1992, "Vanity Fair" rose from a circulation of 350,000 to 1.1 million and won four National Magazine awards, including a 1989 award for General Excellence. Brown was named Advertising Age's first Magazine Editor of the Year.

In 1992 Newhouse invited Brown to take on another big publishing challenge --revitalization of "The New Yorker" magazine. She was the fourth editor in the magazine's 73-year history and its first female editor. In her six-and-a-half-year tenure, she raised circulation by 145% on the newsstand and 28% overall. The magazine was honored with four George Polk awards, five Overseas Press Club awards and 10 National Magazine awards, including a 1995 award for General Excellence, the first in the magazine's history. Brown was the first magazine editor to be honored with the National Press Foundation's Editor of the Year Award, in 1992.

Brown hired 75 new writers and editors at "The New Yorker," including David Remnick, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Malcolm Gladwell, Simon Schama, Hilton Als and Philip Gourevitch. She started the publication of quarterly "The New Yorker" special issues, including a much-publicized "Black In America" issue, which she edited in conjunction with Gates.

In 1998, she left "The New Yorker" and founded Talk Media with partners Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein of Miramax Films. They launched "Talk" magazine and the Talk Miramax Books company. "Talk's" publication was suspended in January 2002 in the wake of the advertising recession following September 11th terror attacks.

Brown is married to Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times of London, president of Random House and author of "The American Century." They have two children, George and Isabel, and reside in New York. In November 2000, Brown was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth for her services to overseas journalism.

O'Hearn has produced award-winning television news under great pressure, covering such stories as the attacks of September 11th, the 1990-91 Gulf War, Hurricanes Hugo and Andrew, the Kosovo Refugee Crisis, the death of Princess Diana, the O.J. Simpson story, floods, fires, earthquakes, riots, political conventions, and national elections. As ABC News bureau chief in Los Angeles she directed reporting of the L.A. riots, the Northridge earthquake, the Malibu fires, and the OJ Simpson trial. During the first Gulf War she was ABC's bureau chief in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, coordinating press pool coverage with the United States military.

O'Hearn also helmed CNN's morning coverage in the aftermath of 9/11, and created, launched and produced CNN's morning show, "American Morning." Earlier, she was executive vice president of CNN Business News and CNNfn. In that capacity, she was in charge of programming on CNNfn, and responsible for the production and creative development of CNN Business News, including the network's flagship program, Moneyline. O'Hearn was the executive in charge in May 2001 when the show was successfully re-launched as Lou Dobbs Moneyline.

O'Hearn joined CNN in June of 2000 after a 17-year career at ABC News. She had served as executive producer of World News Tonight Saturday, World News Tonight Sunday, and Good Morning America Sunday.

Earlier ABC posts include that of Los Angeles bureau chief, where O'Hearn supervised news coverage for the western United States, as a senior producer of World News This Morning, and as an assignment editor in the DC bureau.

Before joining ABC News, O'Hearn was an assignment editor for the CBS News bureau in Washington, D.C. From 1979-1982 O'Hearn was also a cameraperson for CBS News in Washington, traveling around the world, covering Presidents Carter & Reagan. She began her broadcasting career at CBS News in 1976.

The awards for her work include five Emmy awards, three Edward R. Murrow awards, a 2000 National Headliner Award for Best Newscast, an Overseas Press Club Award in 1999, and a Peabody Award in 1999.

O'Hearn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland.