
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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Author Carole Lindstrom follows Caldecott-winning We Are Water Protectors with another children's book featuring Native culture. She says she hopes it helps kids "see themselves in a positive way."
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Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston and Chris Rock were also among those in Washington, D.C. this weekend to celebrate Sandler, who worked on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s and moved on to films.
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High school theater teachers fear their stages will be the next battleground in the culture war. Plays have been canceled or removed when local officials claim the content is inappropriate.
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"Fat," "ugly" and "horsey face" will remain in Roald Dahl's children's books in the U.K. after all. After a fierce backlash to proposed changes, Dahl's U.K. publisher announced a "classic collection."
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The songwriter and singer, who cemented his prominence with hits like "Say A Little Prayer" and "Walk on By," died Wednesday of natural causes.
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The company, based in The Hague, is currently in Washington, D.C., performing Giselle at The Kennedy Center. The Ukrainian Ambassador says the ballet corps is like a secret weapon.
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Hot Dog, by Doug Salati, is about an overheated pup who finds his calm on a trip to the beach. Freewater, by Amina Luqman-Dawson, is about two enslaved children finding freedom.
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The United Ukrainian Ballet Company is made up of dancers taking refuge in the Netherlands. The company travels to Washington, D.C., to perform Giselle, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky.
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The composer has been lauded for decades over his deeply affective music; director Alejandro González Iñárritu, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir and more join us to explain why.
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Odesa in Ukraine has been added to the cultural sites that UNESCO is highlighting. Also being included are ancient sites in Lebanon and Yemen.