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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Legendary screen siren and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has died at age 91. The alluring former model starred in numerous movies, often playing the highly sexualized love interest.
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Marty Reisman was nicknamed "The Needle" for his slender physique. He dressed well and put on a show.
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President Trump has made major changes at the Kennedy Center this year, ousting the board chair and president, and naming himself host of the organization's yearly awards show.
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Senate Democrats say the new Kennedy Center leadership has led to "millions in lost revenue, luxury spending, and preferential treatment for Trump allies." The performing arts center denies the allegations.
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What does Damn Yankees, a 1950s musical have to say to audiences in 2025? With its themes of selling your soul to the devil to get a win or power or beauty, quite a bit.
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The Hungarian writer, known for his apocalyptic works, has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature. He joins the ranks of Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Toni Morrison.
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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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President Trump has announced the Kennedy Center honorees. They are Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, Michael Crawford and the band KISS. Trump said he will also host the ceremony.
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"What is it like to be a teen right now?" Young artists explored that question for two different exhibitions of their work this summer. But on the National Mall, their work was deemed too political.
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The artist, best known for her portrait of Michelle Obama, said the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery wanted to keep her portrait of a trans woman out of the exhibition American Sublime.