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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"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.
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Closely associated with Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman also wrote over-the-top hits for Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply and Celine Dion, as well as music for the stage.
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The morning after winning two Grammy awards, R&B singer H.E.R. received an Oscar nomination for the song "Fight For You" from the film Judas and the Black Messiah.
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Netflix has plans to keep people from sharing their passwords with non-subscribers — which might cause rifts in some relationships.
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Up for Oscars for two different movies — The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm -- Cohen says he was influenced by Peter Sellers, Monty Python and French clown Philippe Gaulier.
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Actor Yaphet Kotto has died at age 81. Kotto played a number of movie and TV roles including a Bond villain in Live And Let Die and a police lieutenant in Homicide: Live On The Streets.
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Newman was a founding member of the improv group The Groundlings and an originalSaturday Night Livecast member. She's voiced dozens of animated characters and has just published a new audio memoir.
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Identical twin comedy duo Keith and Kenny Lucas are on the rise. They wrote the story for the new movie, Judas and the Black Messiah, and they're involved with a new rework of Revenge of the Nerds.
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Mary Wilson, one of the founding members of The Supremes, died at her home in Henderson, Nevada on Monday. She was 76 years old.
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A music therapist in Virginia started a weekly support group for COVID-19 patients to help them deal with social isolation and loneliness.
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The former Ole Miss quarterback wrote hits for Gladys Knight & the Pips during the 1970s. His songs were also recorded by Glen Campbell, Charley Pride and Indigo Girls.
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Actress Cicely Tyson has died. In a career that spanned some 65 years, Tyson was an elegant, dignified presence.