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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Kevin Hart received the 25th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at The Kennedy Center Sunday night. Fellow comedians Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Chelsea Handler were there to roast him. -
The 92nd Street Y, New York was originally founded to help Jewish immigrants assimilate. Today, 92NY is a cultural force for all. But its response to the Israel-Hamas war has been divisive. -
David E. Harris became the first Black pilot to fly for a commercial airline when American Airlines hired him in 1964. Announcing Capt. Harris' death, American's CEO called him a "trailblazer." -
The Middle East crisis has sharply divided Hollywood. Celebrities who've spoken out have lost jobs and been harassed. But there's a long history of celebrities lending their voices to bigger causes. -
TikTok and Universal Music Group still haven't come to an agreement about artists' compensation and AI-generated recordings. Now TikTok must start removing songs from UMPG, Universal's publishing arm. -
Food stylists will sometimes swap glue for milk and coat meat with motor oil. But on the set of The Taste of Things, the meals were real — and the actors kept eating after the director yelled "Cut!" -
Maurice Sendak's previously unpublished Ten Little Rabbits was released this week. On a visit to the late writer's home, we learned he whistled while he worked. (Story aired on ATC on 2/6/24.)
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First of all, can we stop using the word "liminal"? Bianca Bosker spent five years doing in-depth research for Get the Picture — an irreverent book about "strategic snobbery" in the art world. -
The late author-illustrator, creator of Pierre and Where the Wild Things Are, loved whistling, Mozart, and Mickey Mouse curios. His trademark whimsy can be found in the new book Ten Little Rabbits. -
By most accounts of this week's Golden Globes, Jo Koy bombed. But fellow stand up comedians like Steve Martin, Michael Che, Kevin Hart and Whoopi Goldberg are coming to his defense.
