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.
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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.
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Maurice Sendak's previously unpublished Ten Little Rabbits was released this week.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.
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It's Bond meets The Truman Show in Aardman's sequel to Chicken Run. This time, the chickens break in — not out — to save the flock. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget premieres on Netflix this week.
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Billy Crystal, Dionne Warwick, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, Renée Fleming and Queen Latifah were given the star treatment as they received their Kennedy Center Honors.
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New York's American Museum of Natural History holds the remains of some 12,000 people. The museum is removing human remains from public display and reviewing its repatriation procedures.
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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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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.