Ailsa Chang

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:

Uninterested in basketball? What about 'Taco Madness'?

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

At the same time basketball teams are vying to end up in the Final Four, so are LA taquerias, as part of the annual "Taco Madness" competition.

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'Worry' is a portrait of sisterly love that is both hilarious and deeply disturbing

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with writer Alexandra Tanner about her debut novel, Worry.

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The interpreter for Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani is fired amid gambling and theft scandal

Friday, March 22, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks to LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano about MLB player Shohei Ohtani's interpreter, who allegedly stole millions of dollars from the player to cover up gambling debts.

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'Shirley' is a celebratory biopic that doesn't end in triumph

Friday, March 22, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Regina King and John Ridley, star and director of the biopic "Shirley" which celebrates Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress.

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As famine looms in Gaza, we look at why modern famines are a 'man-made' disaster

Friday, March 22, 2024

The United Nation says a famine is imminent in Gaza. NPR's Ailsa Chang checks in with Alex de Waal, leading scholar on famines, about the situation in the strip.

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Glassdoor's new privacy policy stirs fear that anonymous posts may not stay anonymous

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Amanda Hoover, about her latest piece in WIRED magazine, "Glassdoor Wants To Know Your Real Name."

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U.S. Commerce secretary says $8.5B Intel grant is a national security and economy win

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks to United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo about the CHIPS act and the $8.5 billion grant awarded to Intel to help build semiconductor chip factories.

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For this Texas State Rep., the immigration law SB4 hits personally

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Texas State Rep. Armando Walle about the potential impact of SB4 on Hispanic communities in the state.

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Female genital mutilation is illegal in The Gambia. But maybe not for much longer

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Jaha Dukureh, the founder of Safe Hands for Girls, a Gambian group that aims to end female genital mutilation. Lawmakers there advanced a bill that would end its FGM ban.

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New study shows that pollution in Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' may affect births

Monday, March 18, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Jessica Kutz, a reporter for The 19th, about a recent study that sheds light on how polluted air in Louisiana has affected pregnant people and their children.

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This 23-year-old media literacy influencer wants you to read the paper

Monday, March 18, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with 23-year-old Kelsey Russell, who is bringing printed news to TikTok's Gen Z and Gen Alpha viewers.

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Secretary Buttigieg defends Biden's comments from State of the Union speech

Friday, March 08, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about President Biden's State of the Union address.

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After a week of negotiation, Gaza ceasefire is unlikely before Ramadan

Friday, March 08, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute where he directs the Program on Palestine and Palestinian Affairs, about the status of Gaza ceasefire talks.

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How some companies hope to bring China's livestream shopping trend to the U.S.

Monday, March 04, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks to reporter Caiwei Chen about the booming livestream shopping trend in China, and how Chinese companies and TikTok are training American influencers to sell on livestreams too.

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Lebron James reaches 40,000 points, and doesn't look like he'll stop anytime soon

Monday, March 04, 2024

Ailsa Chang talks to Ben Golliver of the Washington Post about Lebron's latest career milestone — and how he keeps on scoring, despite being the oldest player in the league.

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Tribal clashes in Papua New Guinea have become increasingly deadly

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

A clash between tribes in Papua New Guinea led to deaths of at least 49 tribesmen. Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Tim Swanston explains why tribal warfare has gotten more deadly recently.

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Greta Lee of 'Past Lives' talks about how language and identity are intertwined

Friday, February 23, 2024

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.

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New York rolls out a social-justice oriented weed legalization program

Thursday, February 22, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino about her latest piece, which chronicles the rollout of New York's social justice-oriented weed legalization program.

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Short Wave on singing gibbons, tai chi's health benefits, and gender disparity with exercise results

Thursday, February 22, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Regina Barber and Rachel Carlson of Short Wave about singing gibbons, how tai chi might lower blood pressure, and why women get quicker benefits from exercise than men.

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Scientists in the Florida Keys haven't had great success revitalizing coral reefs

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Katey Lesneski, research coordinator for coral restoration at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. She's been checking on restored corals, which struggled in 2023.

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