In this episode, Ken Futernick sits down with Mike Walsh—widely known across California education circles as a master human connector—to explore how schools can build trust, strengthen relationships, and create communities where both a...

In Part 1, we heard how Reading, Pennsylvania, began to turn outward—listening to families, students, and educators to rethink what their school system could be. In Part 2, we see what happened when a new mindset and civic culture shifted from ...

When the pandemic struck Reading, Pennsylvania, its school system was already under enormous strain. The Reading School District—the poorest in the state—served 16,000 students, many of whom faced daunting barriers long before COVID arrived. Hu...

What would make someone leave a thirty–year career on Wall Street to help heal America’s divides? In this episode of Courageous Conversations About Our Schools, host Ken Futernick...

In a live, online discussion we co-hosted with Braver Angels on September 4th, 2025, eight panelists discussed whether Ethnic Studies should be required for high school graduation, whether such a cours...

Should high school students be required to take an Ethnic Studies course? Should such a course even be offered at all, or is the content likely to do more harm than good? These were the questions that a diverse group of panelists discussed in a...

In this timely conversation, attorney Leo Tucker shares his expertise on preparing schools and communities for immigration enforcement actions that could separate children from their families. As executive director of Aid (Aiding Survivors of T...

In this episode, host Ken Futernick speaks with James Coan, founder of More Like US, along with high school students Landon and Deegan, about perception gaps in American society.James explains ho...

In this Courageous Conversation, host Ken Futernick and Dr. Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of History of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, delve into the heated deba...

In this episode, host Ken Futernick sits down with Bruce Wasser, a former history teacher whose life story is as inspiring as his teaching career. Bruce shares his poignant journey from being a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War to b...

This story starts with a bag of shoes that helped a school community heal after the tragic deaths of two students. That story blossomed into a unique project called the “Shoe Club” that fosters empathy an...

How many of us would have the courage to have a conversation with someone who hates us? My guest, Daryl Davis, has done just that, not once, but for decades, with members of the Ku Kluz Klan and other hate groups, and many have renounc...

This episode is part of our series on our sister podcast, Teacher Stories, on what schools can do to help save our democracy. Guests include Dr. Marvin W. Berkowitz, McDonnell Professor of Cha...

American democracy cannot survive without well-functioning schools that enable students to become good citizens and that teach them to appreciate what it means to live under a system whose only boss are the people themselves. That’s the claim m...

Curiosity has been a common theme in this podcast. Conflict experts like my guests Amanda Ripley, Monica Guzman, and Peter Coleman ...

In our previous episode (Ep. 36), Tim Shriver America’s widening political and social divides...

Tim Shriver is a member of the Kennedy family, Chairman of Special Olympics International, co-founder of UNITE, and a former teacher. In this wide-ranging conversation with host Ken Futernick, Shriver describes a tool he co-created called the D...

School mission statements across the county commonly included language about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. DEI training for educators was also common. But that’s changed in recent years as school culture wars erupted around the books studen...

One would think that schools are the perfect place for students to learn about elections. What better opportunity to use the critical thinking skills they’ve learned in making sense of what the candidates are saying and to distinguish credible ...

This episode will interest anyone interested in what it takes to successfully lead a politically diverse school board (or any such organization) in these highly polarized times. My guest, Dr. Katy Anthes, did just that as Colorado’s Commissione...

Ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a school shooter? Or, why someone chooses to kill innocent people? My guest, Aaron Stark, was ready to commit mass murder but decided, at the last minute, not to follow through with his plan. He also chos...

One day after interviewing clinical psychologist Hayley Watson for Part 1 of this two-part series about the need for better mental health support in schools, Colt Gray, a 1...

Immediately following the fatal shooting of two students and two math teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia, the predictable debate over gun laws ensued. Less prominent were calls for another remedy for school gun violence that can have ...

Rich Harwood knows a thing or two about depolarizing communities. He’s been doing it—successfully—for over 30 years, which is why I wanted to probe his thinking about the widening divides and the worrisome rise of culture wars that are threaten...

In the final episode of this series, several people reflect on the lessons learned from Middletown’s successful efforts to avoid a costly culture war and to unify around an inclusive vision of education that all of its students. In addition to ...