Neda Ulaby

Neda Ulaby reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for the NPR 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.

In addition, Ulaby hosts the award-winning Culturetopia podcast, covering NPR's best art stories of the week.

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 Anthony Mackie and behind-the-scenes tastemakers including Paris Barclay and Makeeba Riddick. 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 Ellen Page, Timbaland, Mark Ruffalo and Courtney Love.

Ulaby came to NPR in 2000 when she 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 City Paper.

The American Women in Radio and Television honored Ulaby with a Gracie Award in the Outstanding Podcast category for NPR's Culturetopia podcast. Ulaby earned a fellowship in the Getty Arts Journalism Program at USC Annenberg and at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism to study youth culture.

Before NPR, Ulaby worked as managing editor of Chicago's Windy City Times and co-host of the radio program, What's Coming Out at the Movies. Her film reviews and articles on slapstick comedy have appeared in papers nationwide. 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.

Ulaby was born in Amman, Jordan, and grew up in the Midwestern region of the United States. A former doctoral student in English literature, Ulaby graduated from Bryn Mawr College, where she worked as an intern for the features desk of the Topeka Capital-Journal.