Catherine Shen
Host, Where We LiveCatherine is the Host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast, Where We Live. Catherine and the WWL team focus on going beyond the headlines to bring in meaningful conversations that put Connecticut in context.
Before her current position, Catherine was Connecticut Public’s education reporter for just over a year. She covered a variety of stories like student mental health, childcare shortages, and teacher burnout. She joined Connecticut Public's newsroom in 2021. The Los Angeles native came to CT Public after a decade of print and digital reporting across the country.
She started her journalism career in the Los Angeles fashion scene. While that was an exciting time, Catherine ultimately needed to get back to her news roots. She was soon traipsing all across California’s Central Coast as a freelance news reporter for several newspapers, where she broke stories about local government, law enforcement, and education. She also covered crime, healthcare, business, as well as arts and culture.
After finding herself on the East Coast, she continued reporting in New Jersey, covering a mix of academic news, nonprofit projects, and human feature stories both off and on camera. Then she moved to Connecticut and started reporting for the New Britain Herald, where she won several Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists awards for her coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice movements, and police accountability.
Catherine received an undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. While an undergraduate student, she was a reporter for the university newspaper and its student-run television station, Cable 8 News. She’s also a proud member of the Asian American Journalism Society.
In her downtime, she tries her best to catch up on her reading list but often fails due to a variety of distractions, including reorganizing her bookshelves, scavenging library book sales, and thinking about reading books.
Catherine can be reached at cshen@ctpublic.org and follow her on Twitter at @catshenwnpr.
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Hiking season is just around the corner. This hour on Where We Live, we talk about efforts to make Connecticut state parks accessible to all, regardless of ability. -
Children’s book author Mac Barnett believes that picture books are real literature. This hour on Where We Live he talks about reading and enjoying picture books at any age. -
Korean Dramas, or “K-Dramas,” are not just entertaining and cinematically stunning. They also help viewers feel less lonely. This hour, we’re joined by Jeanie Y. Chang, licensed therapist and author of “How K-Dramas Can Transform Your Life.” -
Black holes have fascinated scientists for generations, but there is still so much we don’t know about them. Today, Yale astrophysicist Priya Natarajan joins us to talk about her research into the depths of black holes. -
Three years after the War in Ukraine started, we get an update on the ongoing humanitarian crisis happening in this region and hear from Ukrainian Americans in Connecticut. -
An update on how New England’s North Atlantic right whale and the Arctic’s beluga whale populations are faring. Plus, scientists are using AI technology to learn the language of Connecticut’s state animal: the sperm whale. -
The State Comptroller wears many hats, including maintaining all official state accounting records. This hour, Comptroller Sean Scanlon joins us to talk about Connecticut’s fiscal landscape. -
Many couples are changing the way they get married. This hour, we dive into the world of elopement and hear from couples who have decided to tie the knot this way. -
Sirena Huang established herself as a world-class violinist at only 11 years old. The Connecticut native joins us this hour to talk about her music and upcoming performance with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. -
This hour on Where We Live, we debut our new theme song and speak with the band behind it. We’ll also hear from members of the indie rock community here in Connecticut.
