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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The brain and how it works is the subject of a new exhibit at the Yale Peabody Museum opening later this week. This hour, hear from the curators of the exhibit “Mind/Matter: The Neuroscience of Perception, Attention, and Memory Launched.” -
The holidays can come with gathering, celebration, and for some, more work than play. We hear from retail and healthcare workers on the ground this holiday season. -
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.” -
Getting better reproductive care might start with examining the past. Historian Deirdre Cooper Owens joins 'Where We Live' to discuss her research on the origins of American gynecology and how it ripples into OB-GYN practices today. -
Throughout Connecticut, the prevalence of tenant unions has increased. But not without pushback from landlords. This hour, hear from the Connecticut Tenants Union and learn what you need to know if you’re a renter in our state. -
The holidays can be an especially hard time for survivors of domestic violence. This hour, we talk to advocates about how they are preparing to support the growing community of survivors across the state. -
Carolyn Kuan has been the music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra since 2011. This hour on Where We Live, she joins us for a conversation about her work and how she’s seen the orchestra evolve during her tenure. -
Wildfires are fairly uncommon in the Northeast, but that could be changing. On the next WWL, author John Vaillant joins us for the hour. He’s the author of Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World. -
This hour, we discuss an American dance form that has captured hearts for decades: tap! We look at the evolution of this dance style and how local artists are keeping the tap tradition alive. -
Sara Bronin is an architect and attorney who chaired the Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission for seven years. She joined Where We Live to discuss her new book, 'Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World.'
