Elizabeth Blair
Elizabeth Blair is a Peabody Award-winning senior producer/reporter on the Arts Desk of NPR News.
Blair produces, edits, and reports arts and cultural segments for NPR'sMorning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. In this position, she has reported on a range of topics from arts funding to the MeToo movement. She has profiled renowned artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Mikhail Baryshnikov, explored how old women are represented in fairy tales, and reported the origins of the children's classic Curious George. Among her all-time favorite interviews are actors Octavia Spencer and Andy Serkis, comedians Bill Burr and Hari Kondabolu, the rapper K'Naan, and Cookie Monster (in character).
Blair has overseen several, large-scale series including The NPR 100, which explored landmark musical works of the 20th Century, and In Character, which probed the origins of iconic American fictional characters. Along with her colleagues on the Arts Desk and at NPR Music, Blair curated American Anthem, a major series exploring the origins of songs that uplift, rouse, and unite people around a common theme.
Blair's work has received several honors, including two Peabody Awards and a Gracie. She previously lived in Paris, France, where she co-produced Le Jazz Club From Paris with Dee Dee Bridgewater,and the monthly magazine Postcard From Paris.
-
A new scholarship sponsored by SNL covers the costs of training at Second City for comedians starting out in their careers. -
COVID cancelled the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2020. Today the Center announced that the show will go on in May 2021, honoring five extraordinary performers.
-
The arts employ nearly five million people in America, but advocates say President Trump's record of support for arts and humanities has been mixed. Will that change under the Biden administration?
-
The Smithsonian cannot build a new museum without federal legislation and both museums have bipartisan support. The law requires costs be covered by a 50/50 split between public and private dollars.
-
The "unabashedly sentimental" romantic tearjerker was the highest grossing movie of 1970. Since then it's inspired countless ugly cries — and plenty of parodies, too.
-
A new executive order from President Trump promotes classical architecture as the official style for new federal buildings. The proposal was originally floated in February.
-
In a move that infuriated supporters of museums to be dedicated to Latinos and women on the National Mall, the Republican senator blocked legislation Thursday that would lead to the creation of both.
-
Described asPitch Perfect meets March Madness, the competition received performance videos from hundreds of groups. Groups can win cash prizes for charities.
-
The arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts responded to criticism that it's been a roadblock to inclusion by agreeing its efforts "have not been enough."
-
The film continues writer Linda Kuehl's unfinished investigation into Holiday's life through never-before-heard interviews with jazz luminaries, and explores her experiences with institutional racism.
