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Diane Orson

Diane Orson is WNPR's local host for Morning Edition.  She's also a reporter for WNPR, as well as a contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories are heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and Here And Now.  Diane began at WBUR in Boston and came to Connecticut in 1988 as a co-producer for Open Air New England. She shared a Peabody Award with Faith Middleton for their piece of radio nostalgia about New Haven's Shubert Theater. Her reporting has  been recognized by the Connecticut Society for Professional Journalists and the Associated Press, including the Ellen Abrams Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and the Walt Dibble Award for Overall Excellence.

Diane is also an active professional musician. She lives in Hamden with her husband and two children.

  • “Wail on Whalers, a Portrait of Amos Haskins” by Felandus Thames, an “homage to escaped enslaved people who found autonomy in whaling,” is comprised of hairbeads strung on coated wire. The piece is part of the “Entwined” exhibition, which reimagines thousands of years of maritime history through Black and Indigenous worldviews and experiences. (Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public)
    NPR News
    Indigenous and Black people tell their own stories at the Mystic Seaport Museum
    Diane Orson
    Indigenous and Black people tell their own seafaring stories at Mystique Seaport Museum
  • Hank Bolden, shown here at The Hartt School, is an atomic veteran — one of thousands of soldiers present at secret U.S. nuclear weapons tests that took place during the Cold War.
    6 Decades Later, This Atomic Vet Is Finishing His Music Education
    Diane Orson
    Hank Bolden is one of thousands of U.S. soldiers exposed to secret nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s. He's now using compensation money from the federal government to focus on his first love: music.
  • Attorney Dispenses Legal Advice As Well As Shaving Cream
    Diane Orson
    A Connecticut attorney has opened a shop that combines his passion for the law with his barber skills. Donald Howard says he first got the hybrid-business idea working as a paralegal for a personal injury attorney who doubled as a sports agent. And, a California attorney opened Legal Grind, a coffee house and law office.
  • A drawing from a child sent to Newtown. Illustrator Ross MacDonald, who wants to archive and preserve art like this sent to the town after the elementary school shootings, calls it "both profoundly moving and just a beautiful piece of folk art."
    What Will Happen To All The Letters People Sent to Newtown?
    Diane Orson
    In the weeks following the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, more than a quarter-million cards, letters and gifts have arrived in Newtown, Conn. The town is trying to decide what to do with a collection that quickly outgrew its storage at the municipal building and now fills a warehouse.
  • Christmas stockings with the names of shooting victims hang from a railing in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn.
    Toy Donations Pour Into Newtown For The Holidays
    Diane Orson
    Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, gifts have come into the grief-stricken Connecticut community by the truckload. Parents say they're not sure how to celebrate, but some hope the traditions will bring back some sense of normalcy.
  • Donald Desmond teaches Abdesa Bustina to use a computer at the New Haven Adult and Continuing Education Center. The new GED will be offered only on computer, but many students here don't know how to use one.
    Educators Worry Revamped GED Will Be Too Pricey
    Diane Orson
    The test long used to demonstrate high school equivalency is getting an overhaul. Many educators agree it's time for an update, but the new GED will be much more expensive and administered only on computers. Some are worried the new exam will be out of reach for many test takers.
  • Ct. Town Makes Deal In Police Profiling Case
    Diane Orson
    The town of East Haven, Ct., has reached a proposed agreement with the U.S. government to settle claims that police discriminated against Latinos there. Citizens accused the police of excessive force, intimidation and unlawful search and seizure.
  • The Brownsville section of New York's Brooklyn borough has long been considered one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. The Brooklyn-based Justice Mapping Center has been tracking the cost of incarcerating residents of neighborhoods like Brownsville, block by block, for almost 15 years.
    'Million-Dollar Blocks' Map Incarceration's Costs
    Diane Orson
    Many cities spend millions on prisons annually, and often those moving in and out of jail come from the same neighborhoods. The Justice Mapping Center maps those costs, block by block, to help policymakers visualize where those public dollars are going — and determine if they could be better spent.
  • Conn. Court Examines Alleged Death Penalty Bias
    Diane Orson
    A legal case under way in Connecticut, involving a group of death row inmates, has attracted some national attention. The trial resumes Tuesday and centers on whether there's been race, gender and geographic bias in Connecticut's death penalty cases. Diane Orson of member station WNPR reports
  • Religious leaders stop to pray as they march to the state Capitol for a rally to support repealing the death penalty, in Hartford, Conn., on Tuesday. The state Senate passed a bill abolishing capital punishment Thursday.
    Is Death Row Still Death Row If Repeal Passes?
    Diane Orson
    Connecticut is on track to become the next state to abolish the death penalty, following a vote this week by the state Senate. Supporters say the law will apply only to future cases, but critics say it could be used by current death row inmates to challenge their sentences.
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