If someone forced you to name the biggest economic and social transformation of the last 35 years, what would you say? The internet, probably.

But what about China, where more than half a billion people have moved up from poverty? Like so much good writing about vast topics, New Yorker writer Evan Osnos tells it from the grassroots.

Osnos’ new book, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China is out today. Click the above audio player to listen to our discussion.