Guest Agreement
The blueprint
This page outlines our standard guest agreement framework. While the official, legally binding contract will be handled securely via email prior to recording, we choose to share our operational principles openly. Rather than hiding behind legalese or waiting on final formatting, we want you to see exactly how we prioritize your creative freedom, intellectual property, and boundaries from day one.
The short version
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
- You're in control of your participation, start to finish.
- Consent isn't a one-time checkbox—it's an ongoing conversation.
- You'll hear the finished episode before anyone else.
- Up to two weeks before release, you can cut anything: a line, a section, or the whole episode…for any reason, or none at all.
- I won't edit you to say something you didn't mean.
- You're giving me your time. I don't take that lightly.
The full agreement is below, but those are the principles everything else is built on.
The Agreement
1. Your control over your participation
This is the heart of it. You decide whether to record, what we talk about, and whether any of it sees the light of day.
- You choose the topics. We start with the conversation you want to have. That doesn't mean there won't be hard questions; it means there won't be surprise agendas.
- You can pause, take a break, or stop recording at any time.
- Nothing is final until the review window closes. Up to two weeks before release, you can ask me to remove anything for any reason, or no reason at all.
- You'll hear the finished edit before anyone else does. No guessing, no hoping it comes out okay.
- That early copy is just for you. Please don't post, share, or release any of it, including your own clips or cuts, until the episode is public. A leaked or re-edited preview can do real, lasting harm, so this one matters. Once it's live, share away.
2. How the conversation works
You're free to challenge any idea, choice, or argument on the show, including mine. The one boundary is this: criticism stays on what a person says or does, never on their body, appearance, or the like. Remarks that cross that line are the kind of thing I may steer away from in the moment or remove in an edit, so it's never a surprise if I do. Repeat offenses will end the episode and it will never see the light of day.
3. Recording, editing, and clips
- I record audio and video. I edit for clarity and length: trimming filler, false starts, and tangents. I won't edit you to say something you didn't mean or to reverse your point or to take away something I said, even (especially) if I was wrong.
- Episodes are cut into short clips for platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Instagram, TikTok, and X.
- Not every clip belongs everywhere. General conversation may be shared broadly; anything more sensitive or adult in nature stays on the platforms where that audience expects to find it.
- You get a say in where clips from your episode appear. If there are platforms you'd rather avoid, let us know and we'll respect that.
- By recording, you're giving me permission to use the episode, and your name, voice, image, and likeness as they appear in it, to publish and promote the show at no additional cost. That covers the expected things: the episode, clips, trailers, thumbnails, artwork, and posts about it. It does not let me use your likeness to endorse another product, or to imply you support something you don't.
4. If the cuts go too deep
You can ask me to remove anything, up to and including the entire episode. But there's a limit that protects both of us: if a guest asks to cut so much that what's left would misrepresent the conversation, I won't stitch together a version that isn't honest.
In that case and at my discretion I'll shelve the whole episode instead. It won't air. It won't be promoted. It will be treated as if we never recorded it. If you were offered an honorarium, it's yours to keep.
I'd rather have no episode than a misleading one.
5. Honorarium
Some guests are offered an honorarium for their time. Whether one is offered is entirely at my discretion, and when it is, it's compensation for your time and presence; never for what you say or the positions you take. Whether a particular guest received an honorarium, and any amount, stays private between us. An honorarium, when offered, covers this one agreed-upon episode and the time you gave it. It isn't a retainer, it doesn't cover future appearances, and it doesn't change your control over the episode or the rights above.
6. Names, titles, and identifying information
You decide how you're identified: full name, first name only, a professional title, or a pseudonym, agreed upon before we publish. If you'd like certain identifying details left out (an employer, a location, a last name), tell us and I'll keep them out. If you're speaking for yourself and not for an organization, we'll make that clear.
7. Off-the-record conversations
Anything said before we start recording, after we stop, or that we both agree is off the record, stays off the record. I won't publish it or attribute it to you. If something comes up off-mic that I'd love to explore on-mic, I'll ask first. "No" is a complete answer.
8. Publication and promotion
- I'll tell you when the episode is scheduled to publish.
- I'm not booking you for your audience. There's no expectation that you share, post, or promote your appearance. If you'd like to, wonderful; if you'd rather not, that changes nothing between us.
- If something is removed between recording and release because you asked, I'll acknowledge that an edit was made, but never what was removed. Your privacy outranks my transparency.
- Your window to pull always closes before I start promoting. I won't tease, clip, or announce an episode until your chance to remove it has passed, so you'll never see me marketing something you were still deciding about.
9. Withdrawal and exceptional circumstances
- You can withdraw anything, up to and including the whole episode, up to two weeks before release. There's no reason required and no hard feelings.
- Once an episode is public, I can't reach every place it's already been downloaded or shared. But I'll take it down from everything I control, stop promoting it, and talk through anything that's genuinely troubling you.
- If life happens and you need to pull out before we record, that's always fine.
10. Language
If English isn't your first language, I'm happy to provide this agreement in your preferred language whenever practical. The translation exists to make sure we're communicating clearly; if there's ever a difference between versions, the signed English agreement governs.
Interested?
If this sounds like the kind of conversation you'd like to have, I'd love to hear from you.