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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In October 1971, The Electric Company flipped a switch and hit the public TV airwaves, aiming to use sketch comedy and animated shorts to teach kids to read.
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As summer festivals and massive concerts returned this month amid the promise of "hot vax summer," the surge in the delta variant has disrupted plans for carefree live music.
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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.
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Up for Oscars for two different movies — The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm -- Cohen says he was influenced by Peter Sellers, Monty Python and French clown Philippe Gaulier.
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The former Ole Miss quarterback wrote hits for Gladys Knight & the Pips during the 1970s. His songs were also recorded by Glen Campbell, Charley Pride and Indigo Girls.
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In a career that spanned more than six decades, she commanded attention on the screen and the stage and was known for roles that reflected her experience as an African American woman.
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The film continues writer Linda Kuehl's unfinished investigation into Holiday's life through never-before-heard interviews with jazz luminaries, and explores her experiences with institutional racism.
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Vocal ensembles that normally would be touring the summer festival circuit have organized a virtual concert series. Groups hail from 10 different countries including the U.S., Zimbabwe and France.
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"Content is king" was Redstone's mantra. Known for his shrewd deal-making and public family feuds, the powerful corporate leader reigned over an astonishing wealth of networks, studios and brands.
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"We haven't seen the cats get superexcited about seeing people, but that's honestly to be expected," says Craig Saffoe, curator of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, which reopens Friday.
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Brothers Billy and Nick Smith have designed a reusable mask that's knit, not sewn. Seamless and sustainable, it's made from polyester, spandex, nylon and an antimicrobial silver-coated yarn.
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Of the 819 artists and executives invited to join this year, the Academy says 45 percent are women and 36 percent are from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities.