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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He created stories centered on African and African American folk tales and his vibrantly colored collage and paper-cut illustrations adorned the pages of some 50 books. -
Visceral reactions to the news that Bill Cosby has been released from prison include shock from victims' advocates and #MeToo activists to support from his friend and TV co-star Phylicia Rashad.
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"Recycle art activist" Thomas Dambo makes these gentle giants out of scrap wood, old pallets, twigs and debris. Dozens of them now preside over mountains, forests and parks around the world. -
Montreal's Just For Laughs festival has countless comedy performances at indoor venues — but organizers say it's important that the fun spills out onto the streets, with clowns, dancers and puppets. -
The Poetry Out Loud contest is kind of like a poetry spelling bee. Kids from across the country compete at reciting their chosen poems, and the winner takes home a prize of $20,000. -
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been circling its smaller rival for months. AstraZeneca has rejected every offer saying Pfizer undervalues the company, and that it wants to remain independent. -
Donald Levine, an executive at Hasbro when the idea for the action figure was first hatched, served in the U.S. Army in Korea and thought the toy would be a way to honor veterans.
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CBS announced that comedian Stephen Colbert will replace David Letterman as a late night host on the network. Letterman, who turns 67 on Saturday, announced his retirement last week.
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Cornell University President David Skorton has been named the Smithsonian's next secretary. Skorton, a cardiologist and amateur jazz musician, will be the first physician to lead the nation's attic. -
The conductor, slated to perform at the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, sparked controversy with his recent comments on Russia's anti-gay legislation. The head of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre is a friend and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
