COLUMBIA, Mo. — Religion News Service (RNS) is pleased to announce a new podcast in collaboration with Fordham University, “Beliefs,” and is scheduled to air starting on Sunday,  December 2, 2018.

The podcast will air weekly and will cover topics of religion, faith and ethics. It will be hosted by Dr. William Baker of the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Public Policy, and Education at Fordham University.

The podcasts can be found on the Religion News Service website, www.religionnews.com. It will be hosted on Podbean. Podbean is available as an app for Android and Apple.

“The subject of religion is becoming more and more important in the world,” said Dr. Baker. “This is a time to dig deeper into the subject on a very broad basis. We are excited to be working with the Religion News Service – the most respected independent journalism effort in the field.”

Every week, the podcast will explore topical issues and fundamental questions that arise from today’s religion landscape. It seeks to build a forum for the balancing of ideas that can be trusted by the faithful and the agnostic alike.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the Religion News Service,” said Tom Gallagher, RNS CEO and Publisher and Religion News Foundation President & CEO. “Bill has immense experience in the journalism field and a real passion for the topic of religion. We are excited to have him on board.”

Each episode of this co-produced series will range from 10-20 minutes. They will be produced and will feature additional segments by Jonathan Woodward. “Beliefs” intends to reach communities beyond those normally covered and served by mainstream media. By exploring the world of religion in a sympathetic and secular way, the podcast will be accessible and relevant to those who don’t adhere to particular religious doctrine.

“Religion shapes every part of life—both public and private,” said Bob Smietana, RNS editor-in-chief. “This new podcast will be a great way to explore the role religion plays in the world around us.”

Dr. Baker is an author and award-winning producer who directs the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Public Policy, and Education at Fordham University, where he is also the Claudio Aquaviva Chair and journalist in residence. Prior to joining Fordham, he served as the CEO of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation for 20 years. He is president emeritus of WNET-Thirteen, New York’s public television station.  He is the executive producer of The Face: Jesus in Art, a landmark Emmy-winning feature film that traces the image of Jesus Christ in art around the world and across two millennia. He is also executive producer of the film Sacred, which depicts sites and rituals from the sacred calendar of a diversity of world religions. Sacred was released worldwide in theaters and festivals in 2017.

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The Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Public Policy and Education, founded in 2009, is devoted to studying America’s embattled newsgathering traditions and investigating solutions for their survival. The Center is part of Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education. For more information, visit schwartzcenterny.org.

Fordham University is a Jesuit Catholic university in New York City that was founded in 1841. Guided by its Catholic and Jesuit traditions, Fordham fosters the intellectual, moral and religious development of its students and prepares them for leadership in a global society. For more information, visit fordham.edu.

Religion News Service is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of professional journalists. Founded in 1934, RNS seeks to inform readers with objective reporting and insightful commentary and is relied upon by secular and faith-based news organizations in a number of countries. RNS is a subsidiary of the Religion News Foundation and affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. For more information, visit religionnews.com.