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
Ghost boats are haunting Puget Sound waters
It can cost over $10,000 to properly dispose of a boat that is no longer in working order. Some owners are choosing to abandon ship instead, causing big problems for marina managers and the environment.
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Politics
Election excitement, summer smoke, and COVID conundrums, this week
Bill Radke reviews the week's news with Stranger editor Chase Burns, Seattle Times senior investigative reporter Patrick Malone, and independent journalist Jane C. Hu.
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Politics
Keeping an eye on Covid restrictions, primary elections, and the Olympics, this week
Ross Reynolds reviews the week's news with staff writer at The Stranger, Jasmyne Keimig, publisher of the Washington State Wire, DJ Wilson, and contributing writer at Seattle Gay News, Tacoma Weekly, and Unite Seattle Magazine, Renee Raketty.
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Health
The northern border remains closed (for some), Bezos goes to space, and wildfire season is officially here. All that, this week.
Bill Radke reviews the week’s news with Seattle Times investigative editor Jonathan Martin, political analyst and contributing columnist Joni Balter, and Seattle Met deputy editor Allison Williams.
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Environment
An emergency drought declaration, the case of the missing texts, and the sky is falling (over the freeway). Discussing what happened, this week.
Bill Radke reviews the week’s news with Seattle City Council Insight founder and writer Kevin Schofield, Publicola publisher and editor Erica C Barnett, and author of the Wild West News letter on Substack, Eli Sanders.
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Environment
UFOs, gray wolves, and restorative justice, this week
Bill Radke reviews the week’s news with Crosscut reporter Hannah Weinburger, South Seattle Emerald publisher and Seattle Times columnist Marcus Harrison Green, and Crosscut's Editor-at-Large Knute Berger.
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Environment
A heat wave hits the west, COVID restrictions are lifting, and revitalization efforts begin in Seattle, this week
Bill Radke reviews the week's news with Q13 reporter Jennifer Lee, Seattle Channel host and producer Brian Callanan, and Kitsap Sun reporter Joshua Farley.
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Arts & Life
Juneteenth celebrations, Boeing donations, and everyone is lazy, this week
Bill Radke reviews the week's news with Converge Media founder Omari Salisbury, Kiro-7 TV political reporter Essex Porter, and KUOW reporter David Hyde.
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Arts & Life
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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Arts & Life
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.