Novelist Jade Chang on the point of our existence

NPR | By Justine Kenin,

Ailsa Chang, Linah Mohammad

Published August 24, 2026 at 5:19 PM EDT

To help us hang on to summer vibes, we invited author Jade Chang to share a couple of the books she's reading and to talk about he own novel, What a Time to be Alive.

Justine Kenin

Justine Kenin is an editor on All Things Considered.

Ailsa Chang

Ailsa Chang is an award-winning journalist and a host of NPR’s newsmagazine All Things Considered, as well as NPR’s daily news podcast Consider This.

See stories by Ailsa Chang

Linah Mohammad

Linah Mohammad is a producer on All Things Considered.

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