Elizabeth Blair

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

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 10^th 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.

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.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Sat January 12, 2013 10:08 am

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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.

2:18 pm

Fri December 28, 2012

Remembering Fontella Bass, Voice Of A Soul Classic

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 3:06 pm

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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.

1:21 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.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 7:03 am

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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.

2:14 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.

By Elizabeth Blair

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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"?

2:44 pm

Tue October 16, 2012

Hilary Mantel First Woman To Win Booker Prize Twice

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Tue October 16, 2012 4:06 pm

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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

1:48 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.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 1:14 pm

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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.

2:10 pm

Wed September 12, 2012

Anti-Islam Film May Be Connected To Libya Attack

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Wed September 12, 2012 2:58 pm

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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.

12:24 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.

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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.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Thu September 6, 2012 12:37 pm

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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.

12:29 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.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Mon August 20, 2012 3:02 pm

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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."

11:15 am

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.

By Elizabeth Blair

Originally published on Tue September 18, 2012 4:22 pm

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3:34 am

Sat January 12, 2013