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 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.

For Super Bowl Ads, More Social-Media Savvy

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By Elizabeth Blair

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

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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.

By Elizabeth Blair

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

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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.

4:34 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.

By Elizabeth Blair

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

3:18 pm

Fri December 28, 2012

Remembering Fontella Bass, Voice Of A Soul Classic

By Elizabeth Blair

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

2:21 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 8:03 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.

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3:10 pm

Fri February 1, 2013