Elizabeth Blair

Elizabeth Blair is a Senior Producer on the Arts Desk of NPR News.

On a daily basis, she produces, edits and reports arts and cultural segments that air on NPR News magazines including Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Her recent stories explored the rise of public humiliation in popular culture, consumers' changing media habits and the late night TV wars.

In this position that she has held since 2003, Blair's varied work has included profiles of actor Neil Patrick Harris, rapper K'Naan, and the band Pearl Jam. She has written and produced long-form documentaries on such cultural icons as Paul Robeson and Billie Holiday. Blair oversaw the production of some of NPR's most popular special projects including "50 Great Voices," the NPR series on awe-inspiring voices from around the world and across time in, and the "In Character" series which explored famous American fictional characters. Blair is especially proud of her interview with Cookie Monster and her reporting on the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob.

Over the years, Blair has received several honors for her work including two Peabody Awards and a Gracie.

For three and a half years, Blair lived in Paris, France, where she co-produced Le Jazz Club From Paris with Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the monthly magazine Postcard From Paris.

Code Switch
4:50 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

'Venus And Serena': An Extraordinary Story, Told On Film

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 5:52 pm

It's Cinderella plus Jackie Robinson times two. When Venus and Serena Williams burst onto the lily-white world of tennis, they changed the game and made history: They were sisters. From a poor neighborhood. Who brought unprecedented power to the game. And both reached No. 1.

Their journey is the subject of a new documentary called Venus and Serena, showing in select theaters around the country.

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Education
1:41 pm
Thu April 18, 2013

In D.C., Art Program Turns Boys' Lives Into 'Masterpieces'

Originally published on Thu April 18, 2013 9:26 pm

This is the third in a three-part series about the intersection of education and the arts.

Life Pieces to Masterpieces is an arts program that's not entirely about the art. It's an after-school program based in a struggling neighborhood in Washington, D.C., that teaches black boys and young men what they call "the four C's": "Connect, create, contribute, celebrate." From ages 3-25, they learn to express themselves by conceiving their paintings together. And those paintings will often reflect what's going on in their lives.

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Education
4:37 pm
Wed April 17, 2013

More Than 50 Years Of Putting Kids' Creativity To The Test

Originally published on Thu April 18, 2013 4:30 pm

This is the second in a three-part series about the intersection of education and the arts.

Let's start with a question from a standardized test: "How would the world be different if we all had a third eye in the back of our heads?"

It's not a typical standardized question, but as part of the Next Generation Creativity Survey, it's used to help measure creativity a bit like an IQ test measures intelligence. And it's not the only creativity test out there.

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Theater
11:48 pm
Sun March 17, 2013

Familiar Folks Make Up A Play's 'Good People'

Originally published on Mon March 18, 2013 11:38 am

How we end up in life has a lot to do with where we came from. That theory gets a good workout in the play Good People, from Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire. When the show was on Broadway two years ago, the trade magazine Variety proclaimed that "If Good People isn't a hit, there is no justice in the land."

As it turns out, justice has been served: Good People is the most produced play in America this theatrical season. By the end of this summer, it will have been on stage in 17 different cities.

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World
6:58 pm
Mon February 4, 2013

In Moscow, Scandals Shake A Storied Ballet

Originally published on Tue February 5, 2013 12:47 pm

It's a story right out of the movies: The artistic director of one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world is violently attacked. His attacker and the motive are shrouded in mystery. But behind these sensational headlines is a ballet company that is both legendary and plagued with scandals and infighting.

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Media
3:10 pm
Fri February 1, 2013

For Super Bowl Ads, More Social-Media Savvy

Credit Deutsch LA

Originally published on Fri February 1, 2013 6:17 pm

Movies
1:46 am
Fri January 25, 2013

For Would-Be Sundancers, Kickstarter Can Fuel Films

Credit Ari Ress / Sundance Film Festival
A scene from 99% — The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, a Sundance documentary that raised more than $23,000 on Kickstarter.

Originally published on Fri January 25, 2013 8:14 am

If you want to make a movie, you generally need a lot of money. And filmmakers have to be creative about raising it.

Just ask the filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival, taking place this week in Park City, Utah. Some 10 percent of the films selected for this year's iteration of the prestigious festival raised money through the crowd-funding website Kickstarter.

In the three years since the website launched, Kickstarter-funded films have been nominated for Oscars, picked up by Showtime and HBO, and honored with awards at Sundance, South By Southwest and Cannes.

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History
4:34 am
Sat January 12, 2013

World War II Exhibit Asks Visitors, 'What Would You Do?'

Originally published on Sat January 12, 2013 11:08 am

For many, the stakes and the scale of World War II are hard to fathom. It was a war fought around the world, against powerful, determined regimes in Europe and the Pacific; some 65 million people died. And as the number of people who have actual memories of the war dwindle — as of next year, there will be fewer than 1 million living veterans — the mission of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans becomes all the more urgent.

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Music
3:18 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

Remembering Fontella Bass, Voice Of A Soul Classic

Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 4:06 pm

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The voice of a great soul classic has died. Fontella Bass sang the 1965 hit "Rescue Me." She was 72 years old and died from complications caused by a recent heart attack. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has this appreciation.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: It's a perfect song with a perfect voice.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RESCUE ME")

FONTELLA BASS: (Singing) Rescue me. Take me in your arms. Rescue me. I love your tender charms. I'm rather lonely and I'm blue. I need you and your love, too. Come on and rescue me.

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Business
2:21 am
Thu December 13, 2012

Etsy Crafts A Strategy For Staying Handmade And Profitable

Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 8:03 am

Etsy has gotten very big, very fast. This year, sales are at about $800 million.

"Their growth on all the major metrics you want to look at has accelerated really consistently," says journalist Rob Walker.

Walker recently wrote a story for Wired Magazine with the headline, "Can Etsy Go Pro Without Losing Its Soul?" Here's why: Etsy makes money from its sellers: 20 cents every time they list an item and 3.5 percent of every sale. Today, there are some 800,000 sellers.

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Monkey See
4:14 am
Mon October 29, 2012

Impersonating The President: From Will Rogers To Obama's 'Anger Translator'

Credit Ian White / Comedy Central
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele cooperate to impersonate President Obama in Comedy Central's Key and Peele.

Political commentators will be working overtime in the countdown to the presidential election. So will political comedians, including the candidates' impersonators.

Impersonators have been part of the political landscape for so long, it's hard to imagine a time without them: Rich Little, Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, Dan Aykroyd, Darrell Hammond, Tina Fey and other comedians have all famously done their turns as candidates. Remember "I can see Russia from my house"?

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Books News & Features
4:44 pm
Tue October 16, 2012

Hilary Mantel First Woman To Win Booker Prize Twice

Originally published on Tue October 16, 2012 6:06 pm

Writer Hilary Mantel has won her second Man Booker prize. She was recognized for her book, Bring Up The Bodies. Mantel is the first British writer and woman to win the award more than once.

Music Interviews
3:48 pm
Wed October 3, 2012

Delta Rae: Modern Folklore Music

Credit Smallz and Raskind / Courtesy of the artist
Delta Rae puts a new spin on loss throughout Carry The Fire.

Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 3:14 pm

Love songs are like the meat and potatoes of most rock and pop music, but sometimes you need something different. For the band Delta Rae from Durham, N.C., inspiration for new material comes from stuff like graveyards and being stuck in the wrong job.

Delta Rae is a six-piece band that includes three siblings: Ian, Eric and Brittany Holljes. Their music is like a kind of modern folklore.

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Religion
4:58 pm
Wed September 12, 2012

Anti-Islam Film May Be Connected To Libya Attack

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We're going to hear more now about the film that was, at least in part, the catalyst for the violence in Libya, as well as protests in Egypt. Some news outlets are saying the filmmaker has gone into hiding.

As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, very few people have actually seen the supposed two-hour movie, if it exists at all.

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Around the Nation
2:24 am
Wed September 5, 2012

The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit'

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 2:37 pm

One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Many people know that the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of a lynching. But they might not realize that he's also tied to another watershed moment in America's history.

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Remembrances
2:29 pm
Mon August 20, 2012

Phyllis Diller, Comedy's Self-Deprecating Pioneer

Credit Chris Pizzello / AP
Diller poses with a photo at her Los Angeles home in 2005.

Originally published on Mon August 20, 2012 5:02 pm

A queen of comedy has died. Phyllis Diller had audiences in stitches for more than five decades with her outlandish get-ups and rapid-fire one-liners. She died at her home, where she had been in hospice care after a fall. She was 95.

Diller was glamorously outrageous — or at least the character she created was glamorously outrageous, the one who wore wigs that made her look like she had her finger in an electrical outlet, who wore gaudy sequined outfits. She was known for her laugh and those nasty jokes about her dimwitted husband, "Fang."

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The Record
1:41 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Marvin Hamlisch, Movie And Broadway Composer, Has Died

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 6:22 pm

Arts & Life
3:44 pm
Fri August 3, 2012

Monroe's Legacy Is Making Fortune, But For Whom?

Originally published on Fri August 3, 2012 5:06 pm

Marilyn Monroe, a global symbol of beauty, glamour and sex, died on Aug. 5, 1962. Fifty years later, she's still in style — and making more money than ever. Monroe's come-hither expression is emblazoned on posters, T-shirts and refrigerator magnets. She's become a multimillion-dollar brand, but that may never have happened if not for the will she left behind, a document that reveals a much quieter — and more complicated — side to her legacy.

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London 2012: The Summer Olympics
2:03 am
Wed July 18, 2012

For Olympic Committee, Marketing Is No Game

Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 4:57 pm

Dead Stop
1:57 am
Tue July 17, 2012

Looking For Lady Day's Resting Place? Detour Ahead

Originally published on Sat July 21, 2012 8:58 am

When Billie Holiday died in 1959, thousands of mourners attended her funeral at St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in New York City. The overflow crowd lined the sidewalks. Honorary pallbearers included such jazz greats as Benny Goodman and Mary Lou Williams. Newspapers and magazines ran heartfelt tributes.

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American Dreams: Then And Now
2:50 am
Thu June 21, 2012

Native American Comic Living The 'Indigenous Dream'

Credit Courtesy of Charlie Hill
Comedian Charlie Hill says he's achieved the American dream, but that it's been out of reach for many fellow Native Americans.

Originally published on Thu June 21, 2012 8:53 am

Music News
9:47 pm
Sun May 20, 2012

Bee Gee Robin Gibb Dies Of Cancer At 62

Originally published on Mon May 21, 2012 7:35 am

Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees has died.

Gibb died Sunday after a long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery, according to a statement on his official website.

"The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time," the statement said.

Robin and his brothers Barry and Maurice Gibb racked up dozens of hit songs in their five decade career. Robin Gibb, who had cancer, was 62.

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Remembrances
8:48 pm
Tue May 15, 2012

In Writing, Fuentes Shed Light On Poverty, Inequality

Originally published on Wed May 16, 2012 9:08 am

Carlos Fuentes was the son of a Mexican diplomat and spent years living abroad, including in the United States. But Mexico — the country, its people and politics — was central to his writing.

Fuentes, one of the most influential Latin American writers, died Tuesday at a hospital in Mexico City at the age of 83. He was instrumental in bringing Latin American literature to an international audience, and he used his fiction to address what he saw as real-world injustices.

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Movies
1:57 am
Thu May 10, 2012

'Dark Shadows': The Birth Of The Modern TV Vampire

Originally published on Thu May 10, 2012 10:20 am

When it comes to monsters on television, vampires have the market more or less cornered. Think about it: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries ...

Vampires' enduring popularity on TV may not be eternal, but they have been appearing on the small screen for decades. Mark Dawidziak, who's written books about vampires and teaches a class at Kent State University on their appearances in film and TV, says that part of the way vampires have remained a force in popular culture is through their evolution on TV.

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