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 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 , which explored landmark musical works of the 20th Century, and , which probed the origins of iconic American fictional characters. Along with her colleagues on the Arts Desk and at NPR Music, Blair curated , 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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Sarah Silverman's musical "The Bedwetter" is largely autobiographical but she says its themes of self-awareness and taking care of one another are especially important right now.
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A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center says the threat targeted Shen Yun, a touring dance troupe that is banned in China, because it is associated with the religious group Falun Gong. -
President Trump and his appointees are now solely in charge of the Kennedy Center. Performers protested by dancing. -
For its 50th anniversary, Saturday Night Live has a weekend of live events starring cast members, musicians and celebrities. -
The NEA will no longer fund many arts programs that promote DEI or "gender ideology." The federal agency has cancelled grants for 2026 that have funded programs for underserved communities for more than 20 years. -
If you remember Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer or Kyle Mooney as Baby Yoda — then you've seen the work of Louie Zakarian. He says the job requires creativity, people skills, speed, and good humor. -
"I am honored to be the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot," O'Brien said in a release from The Kennedy Center. -
The accusations stretch back decades and first became public last summer. Gaiman wrote, "I'm far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever." -
James Lee Williams was best known as "The Vivienne," a drag queen who competed in the TV show Dancing On Ice, starred in musical theatre in London, and won the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race U.K.
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The couple married in 2014, but separated two years later. A lengthy legal battle ensued over custody of their children and the future of their once-shared Château Miraval.
