Neda Ulaby
Neda Ulaby reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR's Arts Desk.
Scouring the various and often overlapping worlds of art, music, television, film, new media and literature, Ulaby's stories reflect political and economic realities, cultural issues, obsessions and transitions.
A twenty-year veteran of NPR, Ulaby started as a temporary production assistant on the cultural desk, opening mail, booking interviews and cutting tape with razor blades. Over the years, she's also worked as a producer and editor and won a Gracie award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for hosting a podcast of NPR's best arts stories.
Ulaby also hosted the Emmy-award winning public television series Arab American Stories in 2012 and earned a 2019 Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan. She's also been chosen for fellowships at the Getty Arts Journalism Program at USC Annenberg and the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.
Before coming to NPR, Ulaby worked as managing editor of Chicago's Windy City Times and co-hosted a local radio program, What's Coming Out at the Movies. A former doctoral student in English literature, Ulaby has contributed to academic journals and taught classes in the humanities at the University of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University and at high schools serving at-risk students.
Ulaby worked as an intern for the features desk of the Topeka Capital-Journal after graduating from Bryn Mawr College. But her first appearance in print was when she was only four days old. She was pictured on the front page of the New York Times, as a refugee, when she and her parents were evacuated from Amman, Jordan, during the conflict known as Black September.
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Shane MacGowan was a famously hard-drinking but brilliant musician who shot to fame in the 1980s with the folk punk band The Pogues. -
CBS first aired the televised holiday special in 1973. The message still shines, but some characters and scenes feel a little dated.
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O'Connor, who had one of the biggest hits of the early 1990s with her version of "Nothing Compares 2 U," became as well known for her political convictions and the tumult in her life as for her songs.
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The National Endowment for the Arts has selected Terence Blanchard, Willard Jenkins, Amina Claudine Myers and Gary Bartz for the prestigious honor.
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Arkin knew from childhood that he wanted to be an actor, and he spent a lifetime performing — the Academy Award winner appeared in more than 100 films in a career spanning over seven decades.
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The Canadian singer-songwriter wrote classics like "If You Could Read My Mind," "Early Morning Rain" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
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Pathbreaking folk singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell has been awarded one of the nation's highest honors in songwriting.
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English-Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John has died at age 73. She was one of the the biggest pop stars in the 1970's and early 1980's.
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The awards recognize a lifetime of achievement in the performing arts. This year they'll go to George Clooney, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, Tania León and U2.
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Caan's memorable screen appearances included Brian's Song, The Godfather, Misery and Elf.
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In a long-running career, Hurt was nominated for an Academy Award three times, winning for 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman.
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David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Shakira all recently sold off all or part of their back catalogs. Why forgo future royalties and creative control?
