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Elizabeth Blair

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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.

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Code Switch
5:36 pm
Fri May 17, 2013

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

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Credit Stefan Wermuth / Reuters/Landov
Serena (right) and Venus Williams pose with their gold medals during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Credit Kevin Lamarque / Reuters/Landov
Serena (left) and Venus Williams celebrate a point during their women's doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in August 2012.
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Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 6:52 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
2:41 pm
Thu April 18, 2013

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

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Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
Life Pieces to Masterpieces is an arts program that serves the neighborhood of Ward 7 in Washington, D.C. Boys work with mentors to create works of art.
Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
Life Pieces to Masterpieces is an arts program that serves Ward 7 in Washington, D.C.
Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
Maurice Kie, a mentor with the program, helps participants brainstorm their life goals. Kie has been with Life Pieces to Masterpieces since he was 9. He was one of the seven first apprentices.
Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
Life Pieces to Masterpieces has a distinct style of art, using scraps of canvas to be sewn on a larger canvas.
Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
There is time for homework and tutoring before art classes.
Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
The program is held at the Charles R. Drew Elementary School.
Credit Courtesy of Life Pieces to Masterpieces
Mary Brown is the co-founder of Life Pieces to Masterpieces, an art program that serves the Ward 7 neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR
Robert Taylor, 11, draws a doctor as his dream job during a brainstorming session with mentor Maurice Kie. His two brothers are also in the program.
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Originally published on Thu April 18, 2013 10:26 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
5:37 pm
Wed April 17, 2013

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

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Credit Courtesy University of Georgia
E. Paul Torrance, shown here in the mid-'80s, spent most of his career studying and encouraging students' creativity.
Credit Jeremy Rusnock / Courtesy Imagination Stage
Assistant teacher Charlotte Lang Bush draws with children at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Md. Staff members and some students at the children's theater and arts center have taken the Torrance Test to measure their creativity.
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Originally published on Thu April 18, 2013 5:30 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
12:48 am
Mon March 18, 2013

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

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Credit Margot Schulman / Arena Stage
Johanna Day as Margie and Andrew Long as Mike in the recent Arena Stage production of David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People. The childhood friends drift apart as their lives take on very different socioeconomic dimensions.
Credit Margot Schulman / Arena Stage
Day and Francesca Choy-Kee as Kate. Day says her fiery character is "not book smart and didn't get to be educated, but she is smart."
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Originally published on Mon March 18, 2013 12:38 pm

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
7:58 pm
Mon February 4, 2013

In Moscow, Scandals Shake A Storied Ballet

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Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre's Bolshoi Ballet, was nearly blinded by an attacker on Jan. 17.
Credit AFP/Getty Images
Filin spoke to the media on Monday. He suffered third-degree burns on his face and neck, and is in Germany for treatment.
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Originally published on Tue February 5, 2013 1:47 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
4:47 pm
Fri February 1, 2013

For Super Bowl Ads, More Social-Media Savvy

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Originally published on Fri February 1, 2013 7:17 pm

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Movies
2:46 am
Fri January 25, 2013

For Would-Be Sundancers, Kickstarter Can Fuel Films

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A scene from 99% — The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, a Sundance documentary that raised more than $23,000 on Kickstarter.
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Originally published on Fri January 25, 2013 9:14 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
5:34 am
Sat January 12, 2013

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

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Credit Courtesy National WWII Museum
Using touchscreens, visitors decide how they would make wartime choices.
Credit Courtesy The National WWII Museum
On Oct. 25, 1944, the USS Tang fired a torpedo that malfunctioned and hit the submarine on its port side. An exhibit at the National WWII Museum recreates the vessel's final mission.
Credit Courtesy The National WWII Museum
The museum's U.S. Freedom Pavilion, seen here as a digital model, opened to the public on Friday.
Credit Courtesy The National WWII Museum
A visitor learns about the USS Tang's doomed final mission at the museum.
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Originally published on Sat January 12, 2013 12:08 pm

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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NPR Story
4:18 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

Remembering Fontella Bass, Voice Of A Soul Classic

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Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 5:06 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
3:21 am
Thu December 13, 2012

Etsy Crafts A Strategy For Staying Handmade And Profitable

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Credit Courtesy of Etsy
Etsy, which began as a place for home crafters and small businesses to sell their goods, has experienced growing pains as it surpasses 800,000 sellers.
Credit Courtesy of Etsy
Etsy's CEO Chad Dickerson says the site is working on ways to retain sellers and weed out factory-made products.
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Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 9:03 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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Performing Arts
5:43 am
Sat December 1, 2012

Hispanics Call For Kennedy Center Honors

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Credit Shawn Thew / AFP/Getty Images
Honorees (from left) James Levine, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Simon, Chita Rivera and James Earl Jones stand beside first lady Laura Bush and President George W. Bush during the 25th Kennedy Center Honors in 2002. Rivera was the last Hispanic recipient of the award.
Credit Chris Kleponis / AFP/Getty Images
Tenor Placido Domingo was the first Hispanic honoree, receiving the award in 2000.
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Originally published on Sat December 1, 2012 10:41 am

This weekend, some big names are coming to Washington for a red-carpet event. Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, ballerina Natalia Makarova, blues guitarist Buddy Guy and the British rock band Led Zeppelin will be receiving the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

It's a prestigious award given to only a handful of performers each year. But over the past few months there's been controversy surrounding the awards. In its 35-year history, only two honorees have been Hispanic, despite the fact that Hispanics are the largest minority in the United States.

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Monkey See
5:14 am
Mon October 29, 2012

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

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Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele cooperate to impersonate President Obama in Comedy Central's Key and Peele.
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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
5:44 pm
Tue October 16, 2012

Hilary Mantel First Woman To Win Booker Prize Twice

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Originally published on Tue October 16, 2012 7:06 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
5:06 pm
Wed October 3, 2012

Delta Rae: Modern Folklore Music

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Delta Rae puts a new spin on loss throughout Carry The Fire.
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Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 4:14 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
5:58 pm
Wed September 12, 2012

Anti-Islam Film May Be Connected To Libya Attack

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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
3:24 am
Wed September 5, 2012

The Strange Story Of The Man Behind 'Strange Fruit'

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Credit Courtesy of Robert and Michael Meeropol
Abel Meeropol watches as his sons, Robert and Michael, play with a train set.
Credit Keystone / Getty Images
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are taken to prison after being found guilty of nuclear espionage. They were subsequently executed.
Credit Courtesy of Robert and Michael Meeropol
Anne Meeropol plays a song on guitar for her sons, Robert and Michael.
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Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 3:37 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
3:29 pm
Mon August 20, 2012

Phyllis Diller, Comedy's Self-Deprecating Pioneer

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Diller poses with a photo at her Los Angeles home in 2005.
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Originally published on Mon August 20, 2012 6:02 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
2:30 pm
Tue August 7, 2012

Marvin Hamlisch, Movie And Broadway Composer, Has Died

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Marvin Hamlisch (left) with Liza Minnelli and Barry Manilow in 1987.
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Marvin Hamlisch, with some of his many awards.
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Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 7:22 pm

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Arts & Life
4:44 pm
Fri August 3, 2012

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

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Marilyn Monroe's will reveals a quieter, more complicated side to her legacy.
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In 1999, Christie's auctioned the dress Monroe wore when she sang "Happy Birthday" to John F. Kennedy for more than $1 million.
Credit Henny Ray Abrams / AFP/Getty Images
In 1999, singer Mariah Carey bought Monroe's baby grand piano at auction for more than $600,000.
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Originally published on Fri August 3, 2012 6:06 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
3:03 am
Wed July 18, 2012

For Olympic Committee, Marketing Is No Game

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Credit via SubwayEatFresh365/YouTube
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps signed an endorsement deal with Subway in 2008, but because Subway is not an Olympic sponsor, Phelps isn't allowed to appear in a Subway ad from July 18 to Aug. 15 2012.
Credit Jeff Haynes / AFP/Getty Images
British sprinter Linford Christie skirted Olympic ad regulations by wearing Puma logo contact lenses to an Atlanta Olympics news conference in 1996.
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Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 5:57 pm

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