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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Donner directed 1978's Superman — which is in the National Film Registry — as well as The Goonies and the Lethal Weapon franchise. He was 91. -
As vaccination rates increase, this summer promises many more options for live entertainment than last and arts organizations are trying to figure out what audiences want for their "hot vax summer."
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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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The American Rescue Plan set aside $135 million for arts and culture, nearly doubling the amount that was available in President Trump's CARES Act, and makes more groups eligible for funding. -
The Kennedy Center Honors broadcast airs on CBS on June 6th. Recipients include Debbie Allen and Dick Van Dyke. It was a very different event this year.
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On Tuesday afternoon, President Biden announced four new appointees to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, replacing four commissioners appointed by former President Donald Trump. -
Roger Hawkins, drummer and cofounder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, has died. He played on albums for everyone from Aretha Franklin to Wilson Pickett.
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Paul Mooney spent decades behind the scenes writing for such shows as Saturday Night Live, In Living Color and, along with his friend Richard Pryor, Sanford and Son starring Redd Foxx. He was 79. -
According to a statement from New York Public Radio, an outside investigation found that Garfield violated the company's anti-bullying policy. He was the subject of a similar investigation in 2020. -
The National Gallery of Art and four Smithsonian museums have reopened in Washington, D.C., but not fully. Some are only open five days a week and their hours are reduced.
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The federally funded museum has been accused of "institutional misconduct" including racism and sexual harassment. A petition claimed some employees call it "the last plantation on the National Mall." -
"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.
