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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Slavery has deep roots in Connecticut. Today on Where We Live, we listen back to a panel discussion about that hidden history featuring Connecticut Public’s Diane Orson. Diane is the host of the podcast, “Unforgotten: Connecticut’s Hidden History of Slavery.”
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This hour on Where We Live is our annual summer reading show, and we are taking a deep dive into the genre of romance novels. Romance might have a bad rep, but it’s one of the top-grossing genres of literature.
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This hour, we look back at the most memorable moments produced with Katie Pellico. From education coverage, to cryptozoology, to the curly hair revolution, we’re playing all the hits as she begins another chapter in her career.
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It’s hard getting your book published. It’s even harder when you’re an author of color. This hour on Where We Live, Christine Kandic Torres and Victoria Buitron talk about their debut books, navigating the publishing industry, and the importance of centering marginalized voices.
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This hour on Where We Live, we hear from local filmmaker and writer TJ Noel-Sullivan. His first feature-length film, "Midas," is an epic heist film set in downtown Hartford that follows three friends as they take on the insurance capital of the world.
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This hour, we’re spotlighting some of the small-but-mighty efforts to clean litter and protect wildlife in Connecticut.
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There’s no deadline when it comes to falling in love. This hour on Where We Live, we talk about dating in midlife and beyond — and what it’s like to find your soulmate when you’re over 50.
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A New York boarding school for youth with autism serving students across the country, including Connecticut, is under investigation for abuse and neglect of students. This hour, we hear about the investigation. The Office of the Child Advocate weighs in.
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This hour, historian and author Deb Harkness joins us to preview the latest addition to her acclaimed "All Souls" series. "The Black Bird Oracle" is due out July 16.
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In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health crisis. This hour on Where We Live, we’ll talk about the epidemic, and the solution of social connection.