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.
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Transportation affects so much of our lives, including our work and leisure. We hit the road for a conversation about the future of public transit in Connecticut. -
Technical producer Dylan Reyes returns for a conversation with Cat on growing up and the music that shaped them. -
Students from Simsbury High School are working to amplify Asian American voices across Connecticut through the oral history and documentary project “Make Us Count.” We hear from them. -
Connecticut’s night sky is disappearing. Experts say wildlife is paying the price. We explore how artificial light impacts insects, birds and even our own health. -
Arthur Sze had an untraditional path to becoming the U.S. Poet Laureate. He discusses poetry, the power of language and bridging worlds through the art of translation. -
Widmer describes his journey from global overnight sensation to nurturing the local music scene in Connecticut. -
The postpartum period is one of the most vulnerable and least talked about times in a parent’s life. We explore how support systems in Connecticut are starting to change. -
Aunts provide mentorship, guidance and care. Today, we explore what it means to be an aunt in 2026. -
Chef Ham El-Waylly straddles two very different worlds: fine dining and home cooking. In his new cookbook, he shares the recipes and memories that bring it all together. -
The modern challenges service members are facing are quite different than they were. Today, an update on what's being done to support Connecticut's National Guard units.
