Show #6-13 – March 4, 2007
Enter The Babylon System
We are all aware of the escalating incidents of gun crime across Canada. It seems the rise in criminal activity is often attributed to the glorification of violence within popular culture, especially in rap and hip-hop videos, but can we point the finger at one particular genre? Enter the Babylon System takes a detailed look at the complexities in the rising state of gun culture.
Public Libraries
The Toronto Public Library System is the largest of its kind in Canada. It has Ninety-nine branches with eleven million items to borrow. Now they have created a new local music CD collection with a budget of $40,000. We checked out the launch concert at the Toronto Reference library.
Charles Taylor Award
$25,000 to the best in literary non-fiction, and a window showcasing the author, the publisher, and the work to the public! That’s what The Charles Taylor Prize has been promising its winning entry since the year 2000. Founded originally to commemorate the late Charles Taylor's pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction, the prize honours a book which has a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, all while weaving a fascinating story around factual events. Videographer Lars-Peter Bjornson caught up with the winner at this year’s award ceremony.
The Environment
Mainstream concern for our planet has been growing at an incredible pace. Things such as the Stern report, which unequivocally stated that the Earth’s problems are caused by Man, the extreme weather pattern’s that have occurred this winter, the impact of such books as Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers and Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth (which won best documentary at the Oscars), have all brought the Earth’s problems to the attention of much wider audience. Our sister show, Backspace, produced a special on the environment which has been garnering rave reviews so here’s a brief look.
Send all comments, kudos and feedback to:
WordThisWeekFeedback@booktelevision.com
|