Alec Cowan
Talk Show Producer, The Record
About
Alec Cowan is a producer for The Record. His interests have brought many eclectic guests to the show, and his segments gravitate toward history, literature, technology, art and design, and ecology. He's currently obsessed with exploring the history and changing nature of the American West. Prior to joining The Record, Alec wore many hats at KUOW. He was the producer of Primed season two and three and reported and produced an episode of SoundQs detailing how prohibition forever changed Seattle policing. He also 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 on 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 North West originate in Eugene, where he studied English and philosophy at the University of Oregon and worked as a news reporter for member station KLCC. He is likely neglecting his saxophone, growing book collection, and expanding personal project list in favor of playing Nintendo Switch instead.
Podcasts
Stories
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The Record
Fighting twitter zombies with toilet paper: Chanhee Choi and her game, "Pandemic 2020"
The usual video game plot is that you're some kind of hero going to some kind of castle or stronghold, to defeat an evil villain and save someone. Very rarely do you see racism as the primary enemy in a video game. But that is the villain at the center of a new game from University of Washington Graduate Student Chahnee Choi.
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KUOW Newsroom
She escaped Iran at age 15. This is her story
As told to Bill Radke, host of The Record on KUOW. Mahvash Khajavi-Harvey is the author of Daylight Forever.
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The Record
Ser o no ser: Hamlet, El Salvador, and the haunt of generational trauma
Part of the lasting appeal of William Shakespeare is how relatable his works are, regardless of who's reading them. While most of us aren't Danish princes or Scottish queens, his attention on mental health and family discord resonates with audiences across the ages. These issues are at the center of House of Sueños, a new audio drama from the Seattle Shakespeare Company. The play reimagines Hamlet through the autobiographical experience of its writer, Meme Garcia, who grapples with our mental health and the intergenerational trauma of their family's Salvadorian-American roots.
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The Record
Residents are still awaiting help months after wildfires blitzed Eastern Washington
The towns of Pine City and Malden in Eastern Washington were nearly decimated by a surprise combination of wildfire and high winds. Two months later, they're still waiting on federal aid to support the hundreds who are displaced.
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The Record
Election Day misinformation followed a predictable pattern – but it's still a problem
Claims of mail-in voter fraud, stolen elections, and fraudulent ballots are circulating online as fact-checkers rush to verify. With an official end to the election still in the distance, the ongoing period of uncertainty makes us especially vulnerable to mis- and disinformative attacks.
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The Record
How fake is that post? This will help you spot deception after the election
In the lead up to the 2020 election, KUOW’s The Record has focused each week on stories and research exploring the power of misinformation locally, disinformation nationally, and what we can do to detect and combat false information online. Here's what we learned.
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The Record
The misinformation we can expect to see on Election Day 2020 – and what you can do about it
As the election draws closer, beware the posts of the friend-of-a-friend. That’s just one of the tips Jevin West, who’s head of UW’s Center for an Informed Public, had to impart on how to combat disinformation and misinformation around the 2020 election.
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The Record
It's getting harder to trust anything online. Is that a bug, or a feature?
Thanks to a proliferation of news hubs and social platforms, our world as guided by the internet is more individualized than ever. While sifting through the noise, is there somewhere we can all trust is true and accurate?
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The Record
Like wildfire: how misinformation spreads during a crisis
When Washington and Oregon's historic wildfires began sweeping over the state, rumors of their origin began circulating online. Was it anti-fascists? The Proud Boys? Since the beginning, officials have faced an uphill battle in controlling fact vs. fiction.
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The Record
It's been four years – what have we learned in the struggle against misinformation?
Russian troll farms, psychoanalytic data-firms and syndicated media companies all want a piece of your attention this election season. But don't worry – there are ways we can all fight back.