Ailsa Chang is an award-winning journalist who covers criminal justice, terrorism and the courts for WNYC. She found her way into public radio after practicing law for five years, and can definitely say that walking the streets of New York City with a microphone is a lot more fun than being holed up in the office writing letters to opposing counsel.
Since joining WNYC in 2009, Chang has earned national recognition for her investigative reporting. In 2012, she was honored with the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, one of the highest awards in broadcast journalism, for her two-part investigative series on allegations of illegal searches and unlawful marijuana arrests by the New York City Police Department. The reports also earned an honor from Investigative Reporters and Editors.
Chang has investigated how Detroit's broken public defender system leaves the poor with lawyers who are often too underpaid and overworked to provide adequate defense. For that story, Chang won the 2010 Daniel Schorr Journalism Award, a National Headliner Award and an honor from Investigative Reporters and Editors.
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. She has also appeared as a guest on PBS NewsHour and other television programs for her legal reporting.
Chang received her bachelor's degree in public policy from Stanford University, her law degree from Stanford Law School, a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Masters degree in media law from Oxford University where she was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar.
She was also a law clerk to Judge John T. Noonan, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Before her arrival at WNYC, Chang was a Kroc Fellow for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. and a reporter for KQED public radio in San Francisco. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ailsa Chang appears in the following:
Friday, June 02, 2023
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Sarah Handel /
Ailsa Chang
Greta Lee stars in the new movie Past Lives. She talks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about the film and the ways language and identity are intertwined.
Thursday, June 01, 2023
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Christopher Intagliata : Senior Producer, Science Friday /
Ailsa Chang
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Chilean musician Alex Anwandter about his new disco-influenced album El Diablo en el Cuerpo.
Thursday, June 01, 2023
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Patrick Jarenwattananon /
Ailsa Chang
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a member of the Democratic Party, about provisions in the debt ceiling bill approaching a Senate vote.
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
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Mallory Yu /
Christopher Intagliata : Senior Producer, Science Friday /
Ailsa Chang
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Jeonghee "JJ" Jin, CEO of Pearl Abyss America, about South Korean video games pushing for the international markets.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
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Ailsa Chang
NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Progressive Caucus whip Greg Casar, D-Texas, about the proposed debt ceiling bill.
Monday, May 29, 2023
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Christopher Intagliata : Senior Producer, Science Friday /
Ailsa Chang
NPR's Ailsa Chang goes on a tour with LA Times columnist Patt Morrison of Los Angeles' top makeout spots, which offer a vantage point into the city's last century of development and urban sprawl.
Friday, May 26, 2023
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Ailsa Chang /
Mallory Yu /
Justine Kenin
Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang talks about the new television adaptation of his graphic novel American Born Chinese.
Friday, May 19, 2023
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Ailsa Chang
Bedouin members Rami Abousabe and Tamer Malki talk about their debut album Temple of Dreams.
Thursday, May 18, 2023
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Sarah Handel /
Mallory Yu /
Ailsa Chang
Biomedical engineer Joe Dituri has broken the record for longest time spent living underwater without depressurization. He talks about what he's learned so far.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
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Patrick Jarenwattananon
Executive director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, Colin Young, talks about a new report warning that the climate may breach 1.5 degrees of warming in 5 years.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
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Carrie Kahn /
Ailsa Chang
Ecuador's president has dissolved congress and is now ruling the country by decree. The risky political move happened within days of his probable impeachment.
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
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Ailsa Chang /
Justine Kenin /
Some people consider French basketball player Victor Wembanyama the greatest NBA draft pick of all time. Zach Kram of The Ringer talks about what makes Wembanyama so special.
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
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Ari Shapiro /
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Christopher Intagliata : Senior Producer, Science Friday
Doyle Brunson, the "Godfather of Poker," has died at 89. Brunson won 10 bracelets at the World Series of Poker tournament and was known for writing Super System, a popular book about the game.
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
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Claudia Grisales /
Ailsa Chang
The CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, went before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday and called for regulation of artificial intelligence.
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
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Ailsa Chang /
Tinbete Ermyas /
According to a Marshall Project report, inflation has hit America's incarcerated population harder than it has those on the outside. Alex Arriaga, who wrote the report, talks about what she found.
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
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Ailsa Chang /
David Gura
Former top executives at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are set to appear before the Senate Banking Committee after both lenders had to be rescued by the government earlier this year.
Monday, May 15, 2023
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Ailsa Chang /
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Sarah Handel /
Special Counsel John Durham's report found that the FBI shouldn't have launched a full investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged connection to Russia during the 2016 election.
Monday, May 15, 2023
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Christopher Intagliata : Senior Producer, Science Friday
Max Bergmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies talks about Ukraine's planned counteroffensive and what it will take to be successful.
Monday, May 15, 2023
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Christopher Intagliata : Senior Producer, Science Friday
Journalist and NPR's former China correspondent Louisa Lim talks about the evolution of Hong Kong's civic life since China tightened its grip in 2019.