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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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.
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Denial is ‘the most dangerous thing of all’ when facing a virus
Voices of the Pandemic features people in the Seattle area who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak.
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I had Covid-19. My body shook, 'discharging the collective terror' of us all
Penelope Bell is a Seattle-area resident and a leadership coach for entrepreneurs. At 60, she’s also a survivor of Covid-19. The following is a transcript of portions of a video Bell recorded about her experience falling ill and recovering. It’s been edited down with permission.
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It takes a lot of people to keep a hospital running
Voices of the pandemic features people in the Seattle area who are on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak.