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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The Smithsonians, National Gallery of Art and other sites that receive federal funding are announcing their reopening plans now that the government shutdown is over. Past closures have been costly.
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Teen Vogue covered fashion and celebrity, but also took in-depth looks at politics and social justice issues. The union representing workers at Condé Nast said six staffers are losing their jobs.
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The White House has fired all six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the independent federal agency that reviews design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings.
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The order is to be implemented at school libraries on military bases in Kentucky, Virginia, Italy and Japan. Students and their families claimed their First Amendment rights had been violated when officials removed the books to comply with President Trump's executive orders.
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A cartographer, a composer, a neurobiologist, and a novelist are among the recipients of this year's "Genius Grants." Each Fellow will receive a no-strings attached award of $800,000.
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The Smithsonian's museums and zoo are now closed due to the government shut down. Tours of historic Washington, D.C. sites have been suspended and the National Gallery of Art is also closed.
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Historians and citizens who say they are concerned about the Trump administration's pressure on the Smithsonian are working to document exhibits, as they exist today, throughout the museum network.
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Ed People hasn't had any professional dance training, but he can definitely bust a move. The social media influencer says the goal of his global dance project is to "bring joy" and "build bridges."
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The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.
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Another departure from the Kennedy Center: Composer, pianist, educator and bandleader Jason Moran announced on social media that he is no longer the artistic director for jazz. Moran joined the Kennedy Center in 2011.