TERMS & CONDITIONS

Effective Date: August 19, 2026
Last Updated: August 19, 2026

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of schoolconversations.org (the “Website”) and the podcasts, videos, transcripts, articles, interviews, study guides, downloadable materials, media kits, newsletters, social-media content, events, and other materials made available by or through Courageous Conversations About Our Schools (“Courageous Conversations,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

Courageous Conversations About Our Schools is an educational podcast and media initiative hosted by Ken Futernick that brings people together for respectful discussion of contentious issues affecting public education.

By accessing or using the Website, downloading materials, submitting information, subscribing to communications, or otherwise interacting with Courageous Conversations, you agree to these Terms.

If you do not agree with these Terms, please discontinue use of the Website.

1. About Courageous Conversations About Our Schools

Courageous Conversations About Our Schools produces educational and editorial content concerning public education and related civic issues.

Content may include discussions involving:

  • education policy;

  • school governance;

  • parent and student rights;

  • curriculum;

  • book access and censorship;

  • school leadership;

  • democracy and civic life;

  • race and equity;

  • labor and education;

  • political and ideological conflict;

  • community engagement;

  • student experiences;

  • school improvement;

  • research and public policy; and

  • other issues affecting schools and communities.

The Website may feature educators, students, parents, school-board members, researchers, journalists, public officials, advocates, community leaders, and other participants representing a range of perspectives.

2. Educational, Journalistic, and Editorial Purpose

Content published through Courageous Conversations is provided for educational, informational, journalistic, storytelling, and discussion purposes.

The purpose of the project is to examine complicated issues, elevate different perspectives, encourage civil dialogue, and share stories and ideas relating to public education.

The inclusion of a particular person, organization, school, policy position, political viewpoint, publication, research finding, or perspective does not necessarily constitute endorsement by Courageous Conversations, Ken Futernick, its producers, contractors, partners, sponsors, or other participants.

Similarly, presenting competing viewpoints does not mean Courageous Conversations represents those viewpoints as equally supported by available evidence.

3. No Professional Advice

Nothing on the Website or in Courageous Conversations Content constitutes individualized:

  • legal advice;

  • financial advice;

  • tax advice;

  • medical or mental-health advice;

  • educational-placement advice;

  • employment advice;

  • regulatory advice; or

  • other professional advice.

Discussions of laws, court decisions, school policies, government actions, student rights, parent rights, employment issues, or other professional matters are provided for general educational and journalistic purposes.

You should consult an appropriately qualified professional regarding decisions applicable to your particular circumstances.

4. Politically and Socially Contested Topics

Courageous Conversations intentionally addresses issues about which individuals and communities may strongly disagree.

Podcast episodes, interviews, articles, and related materials may include political opinions, criticism of public policy, discussions of public officials or institutions, controversial viewpoints, and descriptions of disputes affecting schools.

Visitors understand that exposure to a viewpoint through the Website does not mean Courageous Conversations endorses that viewpoint.

Courageous Conversations retains editorial discretion concerning the subjects, perspectives, guests, quotations, research, and other material included in its Content.

5. Guest and Contributor Views

Statements made by guests, interviewees, contributors, students, educators, parents, public officials, or other participants generally represent the views, experiences, recollections, or opinions of those individuals.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, their statements do not necessarily represent the views of:

  • Courageous Conversations About Our Schools;

  • Ken Futernick;

  • Website staff or contractors;

  • sponsors or funders;

  • partner organizations;

  • other guests; or

  • organizations with which participants may be affiliated.

A guest’s appearance does not constitute endorsement of every statement, organization, publication, political position, or activity associated with that guest.

6. Accuracy, Research, and Changing Information

Courageous Conversations makes reasonable efforts to present useful and accurate information.

However, Content may include:

  • personal recollections;

  • opinions;

  • interpretations;

  • estimates;

  • quotations;

  • research findings;

  • statistical information;

  • descriptions of public events;

  • legal or policy developments; and

  • information supplied by third parties.

We do not warrant that every statement or item of information is complete, independently verified, current, or error-free.

Education policy, law, research, government action, school practices, and political circumstances may change after an episode or other Content is published.

Courageous Conversations may correct, clarify, edit, update, supplement, or remove Content when appropriate.

7. Transcripts

The Website may provide transcripts of podcast episodes or other recordings.

Transcripts may be created through human transcription, automated transcription technologies, artificial intelligence, or a combination of methods.

Transcripts may contain:

  • incorrect names;

  • omitted words;

  • transcription errors;

  • punctuation errors;

  • misidentified speakers; or

  • other inaccuracies.

The original audio or video recording should be considered the primary source if a transcript differs from the recording.

Anyone intending to quote Courageous Conversations Content in journalism, research, academic work, legal proceedings, professional publications, or other consequential contexts should verify the quotation against the original recording.

8. Student and Minor Participants

Courageous Conversations may interview or feature students, including individuals under 18.

Where appropriate or legally required, parental or legal-guardian permission may be obtained before recording or publicly identifying a minor.

Participation by a minor may also be governed by a separate appearance release, media release, school authorization, or consent agreement.

Visitors may not use information published about a student or minor to harass, threaten, exploit, impersonate, contact inappropriately, or otherwise harm that individual.

The Website is not intended to solicit personal information directly from children under 13 without appropriate adult involvement.

9. Interviews, Recordings, and Media Releases

Guests and participants may appear in recorded podcast interviews, video interviews, live events, photographs, or other media.

Participation may be subject to a separate:

  • appearance release;

  • recording agreement;

  • media release;

  • interview consent;

  • event authorization; or

  • other agreement.

Where a separate agreement applies, that agreement will control to the extent it conflicts with these Website Terms.

Courageous Conversations may edit recordings for length, clarity, storytelling, production quality, accessibility, or distribution while making reasonable efforts not to materially misrepresent a participant’s statements.

10. Impact Stories and Other User Submissions

The Website may invite visitors to submit impact stories, comments, questions, feedback, testimonials, examples, or other materials.

By submitting material, you represent that:

  1. the information is truthful to the best of your knowledge;

  2. you have the right to submit the material;

  3. the submission does not knowingly contain false, defamatory, threatening, harassing, or unlawful material;

  4. the submission does not knowingly infringe another person’s copyright, privacy, publicity, or other rights; and

  5. any information you provide about another person has been provided for a legitimate purpose.

Submission does not guarantee publication, response, inclusion in a podcast, or other use.

Courageous Conversations may review, reject, edit, shorten, fact-check, archive, or remove submitted material in its editorial discretion.

11. Permission to Use Submitted Content

Unless different terms are presented at the time of submission, by voluntarily providing a story, testimonial, written statement, photograph, recording, feedback, or other material for possible publication or promotion, you grant Courageous Conversations a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, edit, adapt, publish, display, distribute, excerpt, and promote that submitted material in connection with the project’s:

  • Website;

  • podcast;

  • newsletters;

  • educational resources;

  • social-media channels;

  • presentations;

  • promotional materials;

  • archives; and

  • related educational or editorial activities.

You retain any ownership rights you otherwise hold in your original submission.

You may not grant Courageous Conversations rights in material that you do not own or have authority to license.

A separate written release will control where one applies.

12. Study Guides and Educational Materials

Courageous Conversations may provide study guides, discussion guides, educational resources, transcripts, media kits, or other downloadable materials.

Unless otherwise stated, these materials are provided for personal, classroom, nonprofit, educational, and discussion purposes.

You may use and reasonably reproduce educational materials for legitimate noncommercial educational purposes when attribution is maintained, unless a particular resource states different terms.

You may not:

  • sell the materials;

  • commercially license them;

  • remove attribution or copyright notices;

  • represent them as your own;

  • materially alter them in a misleading manner; or

  • use them in a way that falsely suggests endorsement or affiliation.

13. Media Kits and Promotional Assets

The Website may make media kits available to help visitors, journalists, educators, partners, and community members share or discuss Courageous Conversations Content.

Permission to use assets in a media kit is limited to the purposes described with that kit.

Use of a media kit does not authorize:

  • misleading edits;

  • commercial resale;

  • false endorsements;

  • political campaign use unless expressly authorized;

  • alteration that materially changes the meaning of a quotation; or

  • use suggesting a partnership or sponsorship that does not exist.

Any specific instructions accompanying a media kit control over this general section.

14. Intellectual Property

Unless otherwise stated, original Website and Courageous Conversations Content—including podcast recordings, written copy, graphics, logos, branding, photographs, videos, episode descriptions, transcripts, guides, downloadable resources, and other materials—is owned by or licensed to Courageous Conversations or the applicable rights holder.

Content may be protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws.

You may access and share links to publicly available Content for personal, educational, journalistic, and noncommercial purposes.

Unless permitted by law or written authorization, you may not:

  • reproduce or republish substantial portions of Content;

  • redistribute complete podcast recordings as your own;

  • commercially sell or license Content;

  • remove copyright, trademark, or attribution notices;

  • alter Content in a way that materially misrepresents its meaning;

  • systematically scrape or extract Content;

  • use Courageous Conversations branding to imply unauthorized affiliation or endorsement; or

  • represent Courageous Conversations Content as your own.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to restrict lawful fair use, criticism, commentary, quotation, journalism, scholarship, or other uses permitted by law.

15. Third-Party Copyright and Materials

Courageous Conversations may reference or incorporate:

  • books;

  • news articles;

  • academic research;

  • government reports;

  • photographs;

  • recordings;

  • quotations;

  • publications;

  • educational materials;

  • websites; and

  • other third-party works.

Third-party intellectual property remains the property of the applicable owner.

The inclusion of third-party materials does not transfer ownership to Courageous Conversations.

16. Newsletter and Email Communications

Visitors may have the opportunity to join the Courageous Conversations mailing list to receive episode announcements and other updates.

By voluntarily subscribing, you consent to receive the communications described at signup.

You may unsubscribe from promotional or newsletter emails using the unsubscribe mechanism included in those communications.

17. Podcast and Media Platforms

Courageous Conversations Content may be distributed through third-party podcast and media services such as:

  • Apple Podcasts;

  • Spotify;

  • YouTube;

  • Amazon Music;

  • iHeartRadio;

  • Pandora;

  • TuneIn; and

  • other podcast or media platforms.

These providers operate independently and maintain their own terms, privacy policies, accessibility practices, advertising systems, and technical requirements.

Courageous Conversations is not responsible for a third party’s independent:

  • availability;

  • security;

  • advertising;

  • data practices;

  • recommendations;

  • content moderation;

  • account policies; or

  • technical operation.

18. External Links and Sources

The Website may link to news organizations, research institutions, schools, government agencies, advocacy organizations, podcasts, reports, books, social-media services, or other resources.

Links may be provided for:

  • attribution;

  • additional context;

  • research;

  • convenience; or

  • further reading.

Courageous Conversations does not control third-party websites and is not responsible for their content, availability, security, privacy practices, accuracy, or policies.

A link does not necessarily constitute endorsement.

19. Events, Collaborations, and Partner Organizations

Courageous Conversations may participate in events, podcast collaborations, public programs, research projects, educational initiatives, or partnerships with schools, nonprofits, foundations, researchers, community organizations, or other entities.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, each participating organization remains independently responsible for its own:

  • statements;

  • personnel;

  • activities;

  • policies;

  • data practices; and

  • legal obligations.

Participation in a collaborative project does not necessarily mean Courageous Conversations endorses every position or activity of a partner organization.

20. No Guarantee of Outcomes

Courageous Conversations may highlight communities, schools, leaders, or organizations that have successfully addressed difficult educational or civic challenges.

These examples are educational case studies, not guarantees.

Strategies that produced results in one school system or community may produce different results elsewhere because of differences in:

  • leadership;

  • demographics;

  • law;

  • funding;

  • community conditions;

  • institutional capacity;

  • politics;

  • staffing; and

  • other circumstances.

Visitors remain responsible for independently evaluating whether an approach is suitable for their own circumstances.

21. Acceptable Website Use

You agree not to use the Website or Content to:

  • violate applicable law;

  • harass, threaten, or intimidate another person;

  • impersonate Courageous Conversations or another individual;

  • submit knowingly fraudulent information;

  • compromise another person’s privacy;

  • infringe intellectual-property or publicity rights;

  • interfere with Website security or operation;

  • attempt unauthorized access to Website systems;

  • introduce malicious software;

  • harvest contact information for spam;

  • systematically scrape the Website in a manner that places an unreasonable burden on it; or

  • falsely represent sponsorship, endorsement, partnership, or affiliation.

Courageous Conversations may restrict Website access or remove submissions where misuse is reasonably suspected.

22. Editorial Discretion

Courageous Conversations retains editorial control over the Website, podcast, newsletters, social-media channels, interviews, resources, and other Content.

Courageous Conversations is not obligated to:

  • publish every submission;

  • interview every proposed guest;

  • present every possible viewpoint;

  • respond to every communication;

  • retain Content indefinitely;

  • explain editorial decisions; or

  • update historical Content solely because circumstances later change.

Content may be edited, corrected, supplemented, archived, or removed at any time.

23. Website and Content Availability

We do not guarantee that the Website, podcast episodes, transcripts, downloads, links, or other Content will remain continuously available or error-free.

Access may be affected by maintenance, hosting providers, podcast platforms, internet outages, technical failures, or other circumstances outside our reasonable control.

24. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE WEBSITE AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.”

COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS DISCLAIMS EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES REGARDING THE WEBSITE AND CONTENT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND AVAILABILITY, EXCEPT WHERE SUCH WARRANTIES CANNOT LAWFULLY BE DISCLAIMED.

Nothing in these Terms waives rights that cannot legally be waived.

25. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS ABOUT OUR SCHOOLS, KEN FUTERNICK, AND THEIR PRODUCERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, CONTRIBUTORS, ADVISORS, VOLUNTEERS, REPRESENTATIVES, AND AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO:

  • use of the Website;

  • inability to access the Website;

  • reliance on Website Content;

  • use of third-party resources;

  • reliance on a transcript;

  • educational or policy decisions based on Content; or

  • third-party statements appearing in Content.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

26. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Courageous Conversations About Our Schools, Ken Futernick, and their producers, employees, contractors, and representatives from claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and reasonable expenses arising from:

  • your unlawful misuse of the Website;

  • your material violation of these Terms;

  • material you submit that you did not have the right to submit;

  • your knowing infringement of another person’s intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, or other rights; or

  • fraudulent or intentionally unlawful activity involving the Website.

27. Accessibility

Courageous Conversations seeks to make its digital Content reasonably accessible to a broad audience.

Certain Content may be available in multiple formats, including audio, video, transcripts, and written educational materials.

If you experience difficulty accessing Website Content, please contact Courageous Conversations using the contact information below and identify the specific page or feature causing difficulty so reasonable assistance can be considered.

28. Privacy

The collection and use of personal information associated with the Website is governed by the Courageous Conversations About Our Schools Privacy Policy.

Visitors should review the Privacy Policy before submitting personal information, subscribing to communications, or submitting stories or other materials.

29. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where another law is required to apply.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, disputes arising solely from these Terms or use of the Website will be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in California.

30. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law and the remaining provisions will continue in effect.

31. No Waiver

Failure to enforce a provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that provision or any other right.

32. Changes to These Terms

Courageous Conversations may update these Terms periodically to reflect changes to the Website, Content, technology, submission practices, programs, or applicable legal requirements.

The “Last Updated” date above identifies the latest revision.

Continued use of the Website after revised Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law.

33. Contact

Questions regarding these Terms may be directed to:

Courageous Conversations About Our Schools
Ken Futernick, Founder & Host
Email: ken@courageousconversations.org
Website: schoolconversations.org