Skip To Main Content
Alec Cowan on Muck Rack

Alec Cowan

San Jose, Seattle
As seen in: KUOW-FM (Seattle, WA), Medium, NPR, Centralia Chronicle, KUNC-FM (Greeley, CO), Daily Emerald, Jefferson Public Radio, Saving Seafood, Anchor.fm, Focus: Adults in the Room
Covers:  Technology, misinformation, arts and culture, history.
Audio for news, audio for art | Audio journalist for Soundside @KUOW | Previous @npr @iheartmedia @klcc | Indie documentary maker

Get in touch with Alec

Contact Alec, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.

Learn more about Muck Rack

Actions

Share this page

Alec Cowan’s Biography

Read Full Bio →

I'm an audio journalist and podcaster – sometimes for work, sometimes for fun. A graduate from the University of Oregon, I've worked across local and national newsrooms from NPR in Washington, D.C. to KUOW and KLCC in the Pacific Northwest. I'm motivated by any story idea: from the ethics of genetic genealogy to marine mussel health, from correcting literary anthologies to the history of prohibition policing. I've told these stories across daily radio shows, documentary podcasts, and spot news …

Alec Cowan’s Journalist Portfolio

See all →
Redirect Notice

Redirect Notice

View article →
My Brother's Keeper: Bobby Shmurda (Pt 3) : Louder Than A Riot

My Brother's Keeper: Bobby Shmurda (Pt 3) : Louder Than A Riot

Six years after his arrest, Bobby Shmurda's fans are still anxiously awaiting his return. The rapper ultimate…

View article →
How prohibition forever changed policing in Seattle

How prohibition forever changed policing in Seattle

On a recent SoundQs segment we learned about historic bootlegger Roy Olmstead. Today we do a deep dive on ano…

View article →
I asked a hacker to spy on me via my Amazon account. It took him 5 minutes to break in

I asked a hacker to spy on me via my Amazon account. It took him 5 minutes to break in

A few weeks ago, I received an email. It looked like it came from Amazon - and it was advertising ridiculousl…

View article →
What Alexa can learn from a heart attack on the moon

What Alexa can learn from a heart attack on the moon

Minutes after the Apollo 15 lunar module blasted off the surface of the moon, Astronaut James Irwin's heart b…

View article →
Amazon has a 'secret apartment.' What's in it? We found out

Amazon has a 'secret apartment.' What's in it? We found out

There's a secret apartment on the 30th floor of Amazon's Day One building in Seattle. We've wanted to get ins…

View article →

Articles

Adults in the Room, Episode 6: The boy in the photograph

|
By Isolde Raftery Verified, Jeannie Yandel Verified, Alec Cowan
| KUOW-FM (Seattle, WA) Verified
A boy had a crush on a girl from his high school. He told his mentor, a science teacher, who thought of ways for the boy to spend time with her. They drove to the woods, an hour east of Seattle, under the pretense that the teacher would show them how to drive stick shift on his Isuzu all-wheel drive truck. After the driving lesson, the teacher insisted they go skinny dipping at a nearby lake. As the three of them stood naked, he placed his camera against the truck and set a timer. 3 … 2 … 1 … click.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Adults in the Room, Episode 5: The Bet

|
By Isolde Raftery Verified, Jeannie Yandel Verified, Alec Cowan
| KUOW-FM (Seattle, WA) Verified
This episode includes graphic descriptions of sexual abuse. If you or someone you know needs support, text the word HOPE to 64673. Please take care while listening. A few years ago… when my best friend Ella Hushagen and I started investigating our teacher’s death during our senior year at Garfield High School in Seattle… …we had a simple goal. It was … admittedly… self-centered. To prove our accusers wrong. Isolde Raftery: Are we doing this to go to our classmates to be like, We were right, right?
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?

Focus: Adults in the Room

|
By Isolde Raftery Verified, Will James Verified, Alec Cowan
| Focus: Adults in the Room
Focus is KUOW’s home for immersive audio documentaries. Each season zooms in on a single story that challenges commonly held narratives about life in the Pacific Northwest and reveals something bigger about American society. The production team behind the Peabody-nominated Lost Patients returns with a new investigative series: Adults in the Room begins on February 24, 2026. Seattle, 1999. At Garfield High School, Mr. Hudson is a legend.
Open in Who Shared Issue with article?
See all 534 articles