Fri. Dec. 1

 Roseanne Barr has this HBO one-woman show on right now and it's a hit or miss affair - a bit gnashing, grinding and shrill, but sometimes dead-on funny and accurate. She does a rant about hating George W. Bush and then stops herself to wonder if she can still say that in today's climate. Like, do we still have free speech? It would appear so, at this writing. Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg (in photo) and Linda Wertheimer have been awarded the 2006 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award, and they'll be at the Old South Meeting House to receive it and discuss their careers in the news biz on Friday Dec. 1. Roberts is presently a senior news analyst for NPR; Totenberg is its senior national correspondent and Wertheimer is its legal affairs correspondent. (It's kind of an all-NPR sort of thing, although all the honorees have toiled in the for-profit network end, too.) The Ford Hall Forum is the presenter of the award and the series of which this is part, "Partners in Public Dialogue." This should be a lively exchange about reporting the news in an era where the media is forbidden to take photos of returning caskets from Iraq - out of respect for the families of the dead, of course. Starts at 6:30 p.m. Moderated by Callie Crossley. Free.

310 Washington St., 617-373-5800 fordhallforum.new.edu