Ailsa Chang on the importance of supporting public media

October 15, 2025

Listen to an interview with NPR’s Ailsa Chang; she recently spoke with WFYI’s Kyle Long to discuss the importance of supporting public media. You hear her every weekday as co-host of All Things Considered, NPR’s flagship evening news program. Chang grew up in Northern California, the daughter of parents who emigrated from Taiwan. She began her professional life in law, earning a J.D. from Stanford University in 2001 and completing a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Oxford. But at 30, she made an unexpected pivot — leaving behind a legal career to pursue journalism. Her reporting quickly gained national attention, earning her an Edward R. Murrow Award and the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. In 2018, Chang made history as the first Asian American woman to host an NPR news program when she joined All Things Considered as co-host.