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Alec Cowan

Producer, Soundside

About

Alec Cowan is a producer for Soundside. His interests have brought many eclectic stories to the program, and his segments gravitate toward history, technology, arts and culture, and the environment. Proud to be KUOW's unofficial "boat guy."

Prior to joining Soundside, Alec wore many hats at KUOW. He was a producer for The Record with Bill Radke and Primed seasons two and three . He also reported an episode of SoundQs detailing how prohibition forever changed Seattle policing and assisted with reporting a breakthrough cold case solved with the use of genetic genealogy.

Before joining KUOW Alec worked in NPR's Story Lab, where he helped pilot the Louder Than a Riot podcast, about hip-hop and mass incarceration, and assisted in producing a story on volunteerism in Iraq for Rough Translation. Originally from Grand Junction, Colorado, his roots in the Northwest begin in Eugene, where he studied English and philosophy at the University of Oregon and worked as a news reporter for NPR member station KLCC. He is likely neglecting his saxophone, growing book collection, and expanding personal project list in favor of boosting his online Xbox ranking.

Location: Seattle

Languages Spoken: English

Pronouns: he/him/his

Podcasts

Stories

  • caption: A recent haul of foraging mushrooms is spread out on a blanket for identification.
    Arts & Life

    Mushrooms are abundant in Puget Sound. Here's how to forage them ethically

    Puget Sound mushroom clubs are proud to be some of the biggest in the country. Our rainy climate helps a wide variety of fungi thrive in the wild, and the enthusiasts who collect them help the knowledge of fungi spread like spores on your fridge’s leftovers. But picking mushrooms isn't a no-impact activity — so how can you forage like the pros?

  • caption: Prof. Kate Starbird is the director and co-founder of the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public.
    Government

    How the fight to stop election misinformation morphed into a free speech battle

    Since the 2020 election, conservative lawmakers and staffers have led a campaign against mis- and dis-information researchers like Kate Starbird, the director and co-founder of the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public, arguing that the researchers are attempting to censor them, thus violating the First Amendment. But that argument itself would be misinformation, according to Starbird.

  • caption: From turtle crossings to butterfly migrations, "Crossings" covers the ways in which roads damage -- and benefit -- ecosystems across the country.
    Environment

    Hear it Again: Roads devastated our ecosystems. But they might also save them

    There’s something so romantic about roads, if you’re a human. Nature might have something else to say about them. While connecting people and communities, roads have rerouted centuries-old migration routes. Roads grant us access to some of the most scenic corners of the planet, and at the same time, offer access to their destruction.

  • caption: Scott Welton (left), Suzanne Elshult (right), and Kili (center) stand in a field as the group searches for potential remains at Mool-Mool, or Fort Simcoe Historical State Park.
    Government

    With dogs and radar, volunteers search for remains at Mool-Mool, or Fort Simcoe State Park

    Since time immemorial, Native Tribes in the Columbia Basin met at a village crossroads called Mool-Mool. In the wake of the Yakama Treaty of 1855, the site was of continual use as a U.S. military outpost, and for decades, the grounds included a boarding school operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where children from the Yakama Nation were forced to attend. Today, volunteers and Yakama descendants are searching the 200-acre park for their relatives' remains.

  • caption: The SS Dix in Puget Sound, 1904-1906.
    Science

    Local explorers believe they've found Puget Sound's deadliest shipwreck

    In 1906, the Steamship Dix was shuttling passengers from Colman Dock to Port Blakely when it crossed the path of the SS Jeanie. After the SS Jeanie rolled the SS Dix, the latter's passengers scrambled for safety, with dozens tragically sinking aboard the vessel. More than 100 years later, local shipwreck enthusiasts believe they've found the steamer's resting place in Elliott Bay.

  • caption: Located just West of Capitol Hill's Volunteer Park, Steissguth Gardens began as a hobby for two gardeners and has since become a public garden overseen by the City of Seattle.
    Arts & Life

    The love story that grew Seattle's 'secret garden'

    Since 1972, the Streissguth Gardens have become one of Seattle’s most unique landmarks. The gardens take up a full acre of hillside just west of Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park. If you’ve spent a morning running up the long Blaine Street Stairs, you’ve passed right by the gardens. But the story of how this unorthodox public garden came to be is one of coincidence, love, and perhaps a bit of magic.