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 New York Times reporter Tariq Panja about the trend of countries accused of human rights abuses showing a growing interest in global sports.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Geor., who says that if Congress doesn't pass voting legislation, it will have "failed in the trust the people have given us."
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NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona about the omicron surge and the administration's push to keep schools open.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Jean Chen Ho about her new book, Fiona and Jane. It describes how two Taiwanese American women who grew up in Los Angeles grow apart and find their way back to each other.
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Americans stashed away $2.7 trillion in excess savings over the pandemic even as inflation rates hit a record high.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Zoë Jenkins, Miranda Zanca and Ichtaca Lira, reporters for YR Media, about their series "Teens in America."
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In 2020, a Baltimore man strung holiday lights across the street to remind his neighbor of the connection they shared despite pandemic isolation. Soon, others hopped on their rooftops to do the same.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with pediatrician Dr. Megan Sandel about how the pandemic has exasperated child hunger in the country and could worsen as pandemic-relief programs run out.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with two teachers and a teacher coach about the layers of stress they are currently facing amid the oncoming wave of omicron-driven COVID cases.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Matthew Brazzel, a Kentucky native who lost his home in deadly tornadoes on Dec. 10. Some of Brazzel's family photos have been found across the border in Indiana.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Ryan Stanley, the mayor of Joplin, Mo., about recovery efforts and lessons learned from the 2011 tornado that killed 161 people.
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NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Nicole Kidman about portraying Lucille Ball and Lucy Ricardo in the new film, Being the Ricardos.