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.
-
This hour on Where We Live, PBS chef and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich shares some of her American story and answers your cooking and turkey-roasting questions ahead of Thanksgiving. What are your family food traditions? -
Makerspaces provide places for young and adult students to craft and create with 3D printers, woodworking, laser design and more. This hour, we hear from some of the makerspaces around Connecticut. -
Not all illnesses and chronic conditions come with symptoms that are visible to the naked eye. This hour on Where We Live, we unpack why these illnesses are so difficult to diagnose. Plus, we hear about the stigma faced by folks who are suffering under the surface. -
College can be a place of connection, but more students than ever are feeling isolated and lonely. We asked students how they navigate loneliness and hear from someone working at a student mental health center. -
According to author Sy Montgomery, there are four chickens for every human on the planet. Sy joins us to discuss her new book, "What the Chicken Knows," and the uncommon knowledge about these most common birds. -
This hour, we’re talking about the best part of waking up: coffee! We explore the unexpected role that coffee has played in Connecticut’s history and talk to local brewers and baristas leaving their unique marks on the industry. -
Political uncertainty can cause a lot of anxiety. This hour, we hear from an educator and an interfaith minister, working to create safe spaces for honest discussions about the state of our political world. -
This hour, Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas joins us to share updates on voter turnout across our state. Plus, a look at the politics of campaign lawn signs. -
This hour, we listen to a panel discussion between educators, journalists, and artists as they explain how art informs their politics and how politics inform their art. -
Halloween is here. This hour, join the Connecticut Public team for a spooky hour filled with stories of our favorite local haunts, tricks AND ’treats, and Halloween traditions.
