Podcasts
Democracy and Education: The Podcast
Documents the ways ordinary citizens are standing up for democracy and education against extremism.
Hosted by Karin Chenoweth
So You Want to Run for School Board?
A five-part miniseries and campaign tutorial, packed with advice on everything from gathering petitions and placing lawn signs to developing and communicating an effective campaign message.
Hosted by Karin Chenoweth and Kris Admundson
Latest Episodes
Working Statewide—Minnesota Edition
After dozens of extremists funded and trained by people outside her home state of Minnesota won school board races in 2022, long-time political campaign worker Kyrstin Schuette said, “Someone needs to do something.”
A Victory Against Extremism
Karin speaks with Spotsylvania, VA school board member Nicole Cole, who together with a core group of community members, formed a PAC to recruit and support candidates to challenge their board’s book-banning majority.
It’s 2024—Let’s get going!
In this first episode of 2024, Democracy and Education is revamped to a new, shorter and more frequent interview format featuring Karin Chenoweth talking with school board candidates and people working on school board campaigns. Throughout the year we will talk about what strategies and tactics are successful and which are unsuccessful, as well as the political environment in which those campaigns operate.
Standing Up For Public Education in Plano, Texas
In the spring of 2023 in Plano Texas a slate of pro-public education, common-sense candidates won their races for school board. This, despite the fact that extremists had supported a competing slate with expert communications and strategy help. In this episode, we hear from Michael Cook, Tarrah Lantz, and Katherine Chan Goodwin, who joined together on a slate formed by a local non-partisan organization, Keep Plano #1.
Standing Up to Extremism in Carmel, Indiana
In Carmel Clay School District in Indiana, the fairly new superintendent pledged he would do something to address the fact that many students and parents of color had experienced racist incidents or racist assumptions. He hired a diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator. That prompted a backlash from a group of people, many of whom had no children in the schools and some of whom didn’t even live in the school district.
Standing Up to Extremists in Conejo Valley, California
In the 2016 election for the Conejo Valley School Board, an extreme right-wing candidate narrowly beat an incumbent. She hadn’t campaigned on wanting to ban books or fanning resentments of teachers, so many in the community hadn’t recognized the danger.
Episode 5: Developing and Communicating Your Message
In this fifth and final episode of a five-part package, Karin Chenoweth and Kris Amundson talk with pollster Keith Frederick about how candidates can think about developing and communicating their message. Almost every American supports the idea of educating all children to high standards in a safe and welcoming environment. So it's important to stand up to the minority who are using children as pawns to push a national agenda.
Episode 4: Organizing Your Campaign
In the fourth episode of a five-part package, Karin Chenoweth and Kris Amundson discuss the decisions school board candidates need to make when they organize their campaign and some of the things they need to weigh in those decisions. In addition Karin brings in the voices of school board members from around the country talking about the kinds of campaigns they ran in order to win their races
Episode 3: Fundraising - Ya Gotta Do It
Episode 3: Fundraising—Ya Gotta Do It
Fundraising is no one’s favorite part of running a campaign, but done right it helps enlist supporters to feel part of the effort to ensure that all children get a good education in a safe and welcoming environment. Kris Amundson provides time-proven advice, and Karin Chenoweth brings in the voices of school board members from around the country talking about how they think about fundraising.
Episode 2: The Nuts and Bolts of Running for School Board
Episode 2: The Nuts and Bolts of Running for School Board
Kris Amundson talks through the nuts and bolts of filing for election, gathering petition signatures, and the importance of deadlines with Robert Brink, chair of the Virginia Board of Elections.
Episode 1: Six Questions to Ask Yourself
Episode 1: Six Questions to Ask Before Running for School Board
In this episode, Kris Amundson poses the six questions every school board candidate should ask before making the decision to run for school board. Most important? What’s your why?