Ailsa Chang
Ailsa Chang is an award-winning journalist who hosts All Things Considered along with Ari Shapiro, Audie Cornish, and Mary Louise Kelly. She landed in public radio after practicing law for a few years.
Chang is a former Planet Money correspondent, where she got to geek out on the law while covering the underground asylum industry in the largest Chinatown in America, privacy rights in the cell phone age, the government's doomed fight to stop racist trademarks, and the money laundering case federal agents built against one of President Trump's top campaign advisers.
Previously, she was a congressional correspondent with NPR's Washington Desk. She covered battles over healthcare, immigration, gun control, executive branch appointments, and the federal budget.
Chang started out as a radio reporter in 2009, and has since earned a string of national awards for her work. In 2012, she was honored with the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for her investigation into the New York City Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" policy and allegations of unlawful marijuana arrests by officers. The series also earned honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists.
She was also the recipient of the Daniel Schorr Journalism Award, a National Headliner Award, and an honor from Investigative Reporters and Editors for her investigation on how Detroit's broken public defender system leaves lawyers with insufficient resources to effectively represent their clients.
In 2011, the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association named Chang as the winner of the Art Athens Award for General Excellence in Individual Reporting for radio. In 2015, she won a National Journalism Award from the Asian American Journalists Association for her coverage of Capitol Hill.
Prior to coming to NPR, Chang was an investigative reporter at NPR Member station WNYC from 2009 to 2012 in New York City, focusing on criminal justice and legal affairs. She was a Kroc fellow at NPR from 2008 to 2009, as well as a reporter and producer for NPR Member station KQED in San Francisco.
The former lawyer served as a law clerk to Judge John T. Noonan Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.
Chang graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University where she received her bachelor's degree.
She earned her law degree with distinction from Stanford Law School, where she won the Irving Hellman Jr. Special Award for the best piece written by a student in the Stanford Law Review in 2001.
Chang was also a Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University, where she received a master's degree in media law. She also has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.
She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she never got to have a dog. But now she's the proud mama of Mickey Chang, a shih tzu who enjoys slapping high-fives and mingling with senators.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with activist and astronaut Amanda Nguyen on her new book, Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope,
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Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, said he was mistakenly added to a group chat with U.S. national security leaders about imminent military strikes on Yemen. -
A number of tech companies have rolled out apps and products aimed at helping ease the loneliness epidemic, but some experts explain how technology itself is part of the issue.
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In 2022, the Chinese government told NPR's Emily Feng she was no longer welcome in China, where she'd lived and reported from for seven years. She says she hasn't lost claim to her Chinese identity.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Rep. Greg Landsman, a lawmaker who signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking whether a database of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia had been deleted. -
The president says we're in a transition period and tariffs will remake the economy for the better. Economist Matthew Slaughter tells NPR's Ailsa Chang he thinks they're a recipe for long-term pain.
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The Privacy Act of 1974 protects personal information collected across federal agencies. Privacy groups and attorneys are invoking it to block access to personal records by DOGE.
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Republicans say medicaid cuts are off the table, but the Congressional Budget Office says the budget they're proposing doesn't work without them.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Kristy Hedler, mother of a son with Down syndrome, about what eliminating the Department of Education would mean for kids who receive special education services.
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TOKiMONSTA has had her share of life challenges, including being unable to speak or comprehend music, and the death of a friend. Her new album, Eternal Reverie, pays homage to friend, Regina Biondo.
