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 radio and online stories reflect political and economic realities, cultural issues, obsessions and transitions, as well as artistic adventurousness— and awesomeness.
Over the last few years, Ulaby has strengthened NPR's television coverage both in terms of programming and industry coverage and profiled breakout artists such as Ellen Page and Skylar Grey and behind-the-scenes tastemakers ranging from super producer Timbaland to James Schamus, CEO of Focus Features. Her stories have included a series on women record producers, an investigation into exhibitions of plastinated human bodies, and a look at the legacy of gay activist Harvey Milk. Her profiles have brought listeners into the worlds of such performers as Tyler Perry, Ryan Seacrest, Mark Ruffalo, and Courtney Love.
Ulaby has earned multiple fellowships at the Getty Arts Journalism Program at USC Annenberg as well as a fellowship at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism to study youth culture. In addition, Ulaby's weekly podcast of NPR's best arts stories. Culturetopia, won a Gracie award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation.
Joining NPR in 2000, Ulaby was recruited through NPR's Next Generation Radio, and landed a temporary position on the cultural desk as an editorial assistant. She started reporting regularly, augmenting her work with arts coverage for D.C.'s Washington City Paper.
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. Her film reviews and academic articles have been published across the country and internationally. For a time, she edited fiction for The Chicago Review and served on the editing staff of the leading academic journal Critical Inquiry. Ulaby taught classes in the humanities at the University of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University and at high schools serving at-risk students.
A former doctoral student in English literature, Ulaby worked as an intern for the features desk of the Topeka Capital-Journal after graduating from Bryn Mawr College. She was born in Amman, Jordan, and grew up in the idyllic Midwestern college towns of Lawrence, Kansas and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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The decades-old radical troupe Bread and Puppet, famed for its protest art including giant puppets, is touring again — mixing circus, politics and bread in a sharply polarized moment. -
Rocky Horror aficionados used to attend screenings of the film over and over to take notes on the details. Accurately mirroring every line and dance move has gotten easier over time. -
In HIM, Withers plays a rising quarterback. His on-screen mentor, Marlon Wayans, had some real-life advice — and a reading list — for the young actor. -
In HIM, Withers plays a rising quarterback. His on-screen mentor, Marlon Wayans, had some real-life advice — and a reading list — for the young actor.
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A movie star to his core, Robert Redford has died after a visionary career in cinema, including founding the Sundance Institute that transformed the market for independent films. -
She recorded a magical debut album on Blue Note and was later named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. -
Summer in Ann Arbor, Mich., means thousands of people hunting for hidden codes around the city and reading books to earn points. It's part of a popular game organized by the public library. -
Soil blocking is an environmentally friendly method to prep seedlings. The technique has captured the attention of serious gardeners who'd like to make their growing more sustainable. -
The World Monuments Fund list seeks to raise awareness and funds to help preserve the sites it spotlights. Africa's Swahili Coast, Maine's lighthouses and Buddhist grottoes in China are also in peril. -
On social media, young women are increasingly open about attending 12-step sex and love addiction programs. Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous reports 1,200 meetings in more than 50 countries.
