Alec Cowan
Senior Podcast Producer
About
Alec Cowan is a senior podcast producer at KUOW, where he works on Booming and other podcast projects.
Alec has worn many hats at KUOW. He helped launch Soundside and brought many eclectic stories to the program, from a late-night patrol with real life superheroes to the sewing machine sounds of an artisanal sail loft. Additionally, he was previously a producer for The Record with Bill Radke and the Primed podcast.
Before joining KUOW, Alec worked in NPR's Story Lab, where he helped pilot the Louder Than a Riot podcast 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.
He's proud to be KUOW's unofficial "boat guy."
Location: Seattle
Languages Spoken: English
Pronouns: he/him/his
Podcasts
Stories
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A pilgrimage to a Japanese American prison camp
During World War II, the US government forced more than 125,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes, and into prison camps. Many Japanese Americans from the Pacific Northwest got relocated to a camp in Minidoka, Idaho. For years, Minidoka camp survivors visited the site with their families. This summer, they returned for the first time since the pandemic started. KUOW’s Natalie Newcomb joined the pilgrimage. We’ll hear some of her experience.
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'Tacoma's Notre Dame' was set to be demolished. Now its fate rests in Rome
For more than 100 years, the Tacoma skyline has had a familiar mainstay: the Holy Rosary Church. But citing expensive repairs and declining numbers, the church has spent four years under the threat of demolition. It may take the Vatican to decide its future.
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State and local governments are using AI for work. But should they?
How public employees should use programs like ChatGPT in their day-to-day work — and whether generative artificial intelligence should be allowed at all — is being dealt with through a patchwork of policies nationwide.
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Rapper Common talks 50 years of hip-hop and hopes for the industry’s future
Common is an Academy Award, Grammy, and Emmy award winning artist. The Chicago born emcee is a true hip hop icon with an award-winning career that spans decades. KUOW's Mike Davis caught up with Common ahead of his performance at Benaroya Hall on Monday, Sept. 18.
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After 11 years, Seattle's federal consent decree reaches the 'end of the beginning'
The decree came out of an agreement between the Department of Justice and Seattle Police in 2012, and included changes from officer supervision to how officers respond to people in crisis. Citing a decade of progress, federal officials moved to lift most of the consent decree from the Seattle Police Department.
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In a battle of apex predators, Washington cougars are killing wolves at a surprising rate
Wolves may be an apex predator, but researchers in Washington recently noticed that they’re being attacked and killed by another carnivore at the top of the food chain: cougars.
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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. Understanding the interconnected impacts of roads literally drove author Ben Goldfarb across the country as he researched his new book, “Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of our Planet.”
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Kelp is on the way: As new Puget Sound aquaculture industry blooms, Vashon locals urge caution
As Puget Sound kelp farms navigate a nascent permitting process, environmental watchdog groups are asking for more scrutiny toward an untested local industry.
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How a hug and a prayer took over Spokane’s mayoral race
Spokane’s mayoral office is technically non-partisan. But controversy surrounding an embrace shared between Mayor Nadine Woodward and disgraced former state Rep. Matt Shea underscores how politics are anything but missing from the race.
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How the early internet defined what it meant to be 'transgender'
Think back to the '90s. As a kid, you might have been catching "Saved by the Bell" before school or stacking up a collection of Nirvana tapes. And who could forget dial up internet? This was the first time that the average household in America could purchase a personal computer, and for a community of users who were questioning the restrictions of gender, it opened a new world.