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
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Arts & Life
Major league baseball is back — with some not so minor changes
Major League Baseball is back in full-swing. But in the off-season, some of the biggest rule changes to the game came into play.
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Environment
Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands, on wildfires and forestry
The Department of Natural Resources manages almost 6 million acres of the state’s forest, farm, tidelands, recreational and commercial lands. Soundside asks your questions about wildfire management and forestry, including the state's new carbon credit market and logging practices.
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Politics
Hear it Again: The 'raw deal' within our meat industry
In early 2020, the world shut down. Those of us who could, stayed inside. We learned to bake. We got really into animal crossing. But the workers who process our food couldn’t afford that same time off.
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After another harsh winter, Whatcom County continues flood repair
An exodus of residents from Whatcom County following the 2021 floods left attractive space for some people who can’t afford homes and are living out of RVs and cars — even though they know there’s a high risk the area will flood.
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Arts & Life
The XFL promises alternative football. Can it survive?
The XFL is on its third attempt at an alternative football league. The first iteration was in 2000, and lasted for a single season. The second attempt, in 2020, was sidelined after five games due to COVID. But there's a long history of alternative football in the spring. Will fans support the team enough to keep them afloat? And can the team attract enough fans with its unique style of play?
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Science
The Abstract: A song of fire and ice cores
Can fertilizer be sustainably made without fossil fuels? How have volcanos changed our atmosphere? We look at two recent studies about emissions today and throughout the past.
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Arts & Life
When WA was a country music capital — Stephanie Clifford's 'The Farewell Tour'
When you think about country music, places like Texas, Appalachia and Nashville probably come to your mind. Maybe you even know about California's "Bakersfield Sound." But the Pacific Northwest has a long country tradition: from honky tonks in Tacoma to radio shows in Walla Walla and dances at Whatcom County meeting halls.
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Arts & Life
The hunt is on for 'Monkeyshines' in Tacoma
Every lunar new year, a group of volunteer artists sneak through Tacoma in the dead of night. They hide thousands of colorful glass “floats” – 5- to 10-inch orbs, with an insignia stamped on the top. If you’ve been in Tacoma sometime over the past month and seen people shaking bushes, climbing trees, or turning up rocks, you’ve likely seen a collector of what are locally called “Monkeyshines.”
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Environment
Hear it again: Where the wild things grow — a visit to the new UW greenhouse
If you’re riding your bike down the Burke-Gilman Trail through the University of Washington campus, you’ll cruise by a long row of glass buildings. Over the last three years, the University of Washington has been moving its extensive plant collection from its Botany Greenhouse in Redmond to this new 20,000-foot greenhouse on campus.
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Technology
The 'chatbot' race is on. How should we use them?
Late last year, ChatGPT took the internet by storm. Many have heralded the large language model (LLM) as a new era of technology. Since ChatGPT's parent company, OpenAI, released it to the public, other tech giants are jumping in. Bing, Microsoft's search engine, debuted a limited release of its helpful AI. Google is also working out the kinks in its version, named "Bard." But what's going on under the hood?