Neda Ulaby
Neda Ulaby reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR's Arts Desk.
Scouring the various and often overlapping worlds of art, music, television, film, new media and literature, Ulaby's stories reflect political and economic realities, cultural issues, obsessions and transitions.
A twenty-year veteran of NPR, Ulaby started as a temporary production assistant on the cultural desk, opening mail, booking interviews and cutting tape with razor blades. Over the years, she's also worked as a producer and editor and won a Gracie award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for hosting a podcast of NPR's best arts stories.
Ulaby also hosted the Emmy-award winning public television series Arab American Stories in 2012 and earned a 2019 Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan. She's also been chosen for fellowships at the Getty Arts Journalism Program at USC Annenberg and the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.
Before coming to NPR, Ulaby worked as managing editor of Chicago's Windy City Times and co-hosted a local radio program, What's Coming Out at the Movies. A former doctoral student in English literature, Ulaby has contributed to academic journals and taught classes in the humanities at the University of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University and at high schools serving at-risk students.
Ulaby worked as an intern for the features desk of the Topeka Capital-Journal after graduating from Bryn Mawr College. But her first appearance in print was when she was only four days old. She was pictured on the front page of the New York Times, as a refugee, when she and her parents were evacuated from Amman, Jordan, during the conflict known as Black September.
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Coming out may be easier than it used to be. Where does that leave PFLAG, an organization started to support families when gay people were widely stigmatized? (Story aired on ATC on June 23, 2022.)
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The awards recognize a lifetime of achievement in the performing arts. This year they'll go to George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, Tania León and U2. -
Mary Badham was 10 years old when her performance as Scout earned her an Oscar nomination. Now, six decades later, she's touring the country's stages in the Broadway version. -
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar created one of the first major ensembles composed solely of African-American female dancers. She's just won one of the largest cash prizes in the arts. -
Whether you're looking for exciting dishes to serve at a summer cookout, or something to help you get out of a cooking rut, NPR's Books We Love project has suggestions for you. -
Caan's memorable screen appearances included Brian's Song, The Godfather, Misery and Elf. -
Vijay Gupta was a 19-year-old violin prodigy when he joined the LA Philharmonic. Now he runs Street Symphony, an organization bringing music to clinics, jails and homeless shelters on Skid Row. -
Peanuts was a place where female athletes saw their presence on the playing field explicitly supported. -
PFLAG was started almost 50 years ago when gay people and their families were isolated and stigmatized. Now, the organization is finding new families to support and new legal battles to fight. -
A jury has reached a verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, finding that Heard defamed her ex-husband in a 2018 op-ed published by The Washington Post.
