
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's Morning 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.
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The pop music icon is taking a stand against the libraries and classrooms around the U.S. that have removed books due to claims of inappropriate content related to sexuality, gender identity and race.
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The 25th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor will go to comedian, actor, writer and entrepreneur Kevin Hart. Past recipients include George Carlin, Eddie Murphy, Carol Burnett and Adam Sandler.
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The Walt Disney Co. announced its fourth quarter and yearly earnings on Wednesday. Revenues for the quarter and year grew 5% and 7%, respectively.
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Ads for horror movies and TV shows seem to be everywhere around Halloween — including during shows that kids might be watching. Avoiding them is a challenge.
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Comedian, writer and actor Zainab Johnson turns personal chaos into comedy. In her new special, Hijabs Off, she talks about being a Black Muslim, growing up in Harlem, having 12 siblings, and dating.
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Alice Walton's foundation Art Bridges will give grants to dozens of museums around the country.
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In Raj Haldar's new picture book, a lot of random stuff gets banned: giraffes, avocados, old roller skates. Haldar hopes kids have fun with This Book Is Banned but also learn about censorship.
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We've heard from parents, authors, activists and other adults about banned books. But we haven't heard much from kids. We asked four young readers to share their thoughts about book bans.
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Winnie-the-Pooh: The Deforested Edition is a word-for-word republishing of A.A. Milne's classic, with one big change: all of the trees are gone. Now that Pooh is public domain, it's a free-for-all.
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From SNL's Coneheads to Killer Bees, Broadway's Sweeney Todd and Candide, we remember Tony Award-winning costume designer Franne Lee who died on Aug. 27.