Player: Tamala Edwards

Spend a few minutes talking with Tam Edwards, and the names, naturally, just start flowing. There’s a smart allusion to Picasso, then a sharp analysis of Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign (which she covered for Time magazine), then a quick anecdote about George W. Bush, back when he was still a wisecracking governor hanging around Bob Dole’s snooze — inducing presidential run: “It made you think, if he were the candidate, wouldn’t that be fun.”

The irony? Since her arrival in town last winter, it’s Edwards who’s fast become a name. As the co-anchor of Action News’s early-morning broadcast, the 34-year-old Center City dweller has proven to be one of the sharpest presences in local media, punctuating her reports with humor, compassion, outrage and — yes, despite the fact that this is local news — intelligence.

She comes most recently from ABC News in New York, though before that there was Time, and four years at Stanford, and a childhood in Houston. It’s that city’s earthy vibe that she finds herself experiencing again here in Philly. “My mother was visiting recently, and I told her, ‘You know, this reminds me of home,’” she says, and pauses. “Which is great, because this is my home.”