Elizabeth Blair Elizabeth Blair is a Peabody Award-winning Senior Producer/Reporter on the Arts Desk at NPR.
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Elizabeth Blair

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Elizabeth Blair 2018
Allison Shelley/NPR

Elizabeth Blair

Senior Producer/Reporter, Arts Desk

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.

Story Archive

Tuesday

Translator Angela Rodel, left, and author Georgi Gospodinov have won the 2023 International Booker Prize for Time Shelter. They are pictured above in London on May 23, 2023. David Parry/The Booker Prizes hide caption

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David Parry/The Booker Prizes

Wednesday

Tuesday

MTV News is shutting down, part of broader cost-cutting measures being implemented by its parent company Paramount Global. Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption

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Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Sunday

Alyssa Wapanatâhk as Tiger Lily in Disney's live-action Peter Pan & Wendy on Disney+. Eric Zachanowich/Disney Enterprises Inc. hide caption

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Eric Zachanowich/Disney Enterprises Inc.

Peter Pan still hasn't grown up, but Tiger Lily has changed

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Friday

How Judy Blume's 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' remains so timeless

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Tuesday

Remembing groundbreaking singer, actor and lifelong activist Harry Belafonte

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Singer, actor and human rights activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96

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A 1976 portrait of the singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte. He died Tuesday at age 96. AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/Getty Images

Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and activist, has died at age 96

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Wednesday

Indigenous author explores the power of hair for Native Americans in children's book

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Tuesday

'Mad Magazine' cartoonist Al Jaffee has died at 102

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Tuesday

Friday

Wednesday

Carole Lindstrom's new book My Powerful Hair features illustrations by Steph Littlebird. Abrams Books hide caption

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Abrams Books

'Like a living scrapbook': 'My Powerful Hair' is a celebration of Native culture

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Monday

Adam Sandler accepts Mark Twain prize on March 19. Scott Suchman/Kennedy Center hide caption

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Scott Suchman/Kennedy Center

Big names including Steve Buscemi, Conan O'Brien come out to honor Adam Sandler

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Sunday

When adults complained about a teen theater production, the show's creators stepped in

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Thursday

Shawn Waldron/Getty Images

Adults complained about a teen theater production and the show's creators stepped in

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Friday

How bills restricting drag could impact high school theatre productions

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Friday

Roald Dahl's U.K. publisher has responded to the backlash by keeping his language intact in a new collection. Ronald Dumont/Getty Images hide caption

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Ronald Dumont/Getty Images

Roald Dahl's publisher responds to backlash by keeping 'classic' texts in print

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Monday

Thursday

Burt Bacharach, pictured here in 1970, wrote music that was accessible — it even sounds simple. But there is nothing simple about it. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Burt Bacharach, visionary pop composer, has died at 94

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Tuesday

Some movie lovers aren't happy about AMC's plan to charge according to seat placement

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Thursday

Iryna Zhalovska and other dancers with The United Ukrainian Ballet train at The Kennedy Center. The company is performing Giselle there this week. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

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Keren Carrión/NPR

60 dancers who fled the war now take the stage — as The United Ukrainian Ballet

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Wednesday

As Ryuichi Sakamoto returns with '12,' fellow artists recall his impact

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Monday

Knopf Books for Young Readers

'Hot Dog' wins Caldecott, Newbery is awarded to 'Freewater'

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