December 2, 2005: Carolyn Weaver, producer and host of Fine Print and other book- and print-related television series, is adding another show to her oeuvre. The Voices of Religion, a contemporary look at religious and spiritual issues, will launch in January on three Rogers-owned OMNI channels in Western Canada and on Rogers Television in Eastern Canada.

The first two episodes were shot on location at a Buddhist monastery outside of Toronto and feature Weaver's interview with Ajhan Brahm, abbot of a Buddhist monastery in Australia and author of the book, Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties, published by Wisdom Publishers in October.

In subsequent episodes, Weaver will talk with Tom Harpur, author of The Pagan Christ: Rediscovering the Lost Light (Thomas Allen Publishers), and discuss Marilynne Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead (HarperCollins Canada) with guest panelists. Other issues to be addressed include spirituality and native Canadians and religion in the workplace. Forty half-hour episodes are slated for the 2006 broadcast season.

While the show was developed with audiences of the Rogers-acquired "multifaith" channels out west in mind, Weaver thinks The Voices of Religion will have broad appeal. "We are all thinking more about religion," she says. For those who aren't, she'll also be speaking to Michael Adams, author of American Backlash (Penguin Canada), about why Canada, against global trends and its own national history, is becoming less religious.

In other Weaver news, viewer response is behind a recent change at Fine Print, her weekly "book club." Weaver says parents have been asking for more content on books for younger readers, so she will close each episode with a brief highlight of children's books with the first highlight to air on this week's episode. A support section on the website is currently under development.

article from Q&Q Omni, the online version of Quill & Quire magazine.