Terms & Conditions Apply is a limited-run podcast series hosted, edited, and produced by Ethan D. Smith.

The show focuses on the history, nuance, and absurdity of modern Terms & Conditions agreements that are ever-present in a digital world.

The show features interviews with experts, clips from congressional testimony, and well-researched narration to bring awareness to how T&C agreements impact our everyday lives.

The idea for Terms & Conditions Apply was born when Ethan stumbled onto a link to a Terms & Conditions agreement, which he found to be especially unfair to the party agreeing to the terms. This began a months-long research project into the history of Terms & Conditions agreements and Privacy Policies and what impacts they have on everyday life.

From there, the stories wrote themselves. Many sources were consulted for the project including experts in law, computer programming, data privacy, and advertising, leading to the launch of the five-part podcast miniseries.

The show is hosted on Anchor.fm and available across all major podcast platforms.

Technical Details

Narration for Terms & Conditions Apply was recorded using a Tascam US16x08 USB audio interface with a Shure Beta 87a microphone. On-location interviews were recorded using a Tascam DR-40 Portable Digital Recorder and Shure SM57 microphones. The show is edited in Audacity, and each episode is mastered with iZotope Ozone 8 Elements.

Music and Artwork

The primary theme music for the show is “Let That Sink In” composed by Lee Rosevere and used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution License.

Most other music is composed by Kevin MacLeod and also used under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution License. Links to individual tracks are provided in the show notes for each episode.

The graphics used in the cover art were created by Ethan D. Smith using public domain works from Pixabay.com. The font in the cover art is Abril Fatface.

High resolution cover art and promotional graphics are included in the Press Kit.