American politics
Polarization, institutional legitimacy, trust deficits, and the structural forces shaping contemporary U.S. democracy.
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Media kit
Frank A. Spring
Narrative strategist, political consultant, and public sentiment researcher. He does not study what voters think. He studies why they think it, and what actually changes it.
The in-house mad scientist
for two firms
Frank A. Spring is a founding partner at Altum Insight, a public sentiment research firm built to understand the deep narratives driving attitudes, values, and behavior. He is also Managing Partner and cofounder of Undaunted Ventures, and describes his role at both as the in-house mad scientist.
He has more than fifteen years of senior leadership across progressive campaigns and candidates on both sides of the Atlantic, and spent over a decade developing the science-based methodology both firms use to decode and construct political narratives that actually resonate.
His work bridges neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and narrative design, which is a genuinely unusual combination in political consulting and the reason his answers do not sound like everyone else in the field.
He co-hosts the Altum Insight podcast with Adrianne Marsh, on using cognitive neuroscience and narrative science to understand voter behavior.
A native New Mexican, Frank lives with his family in the Land of Enchantment, where he maintains a daily green chile ritual.
Why hosts book him
Most political guests tell you what the polling says. Frank explains the mechanism underneath it, why facts bounce off partisan brains, and what makes a message stick in memory rather than just test well in a dashboard.
Five areas, all of them
evidence-based
Progressive strategy
Cross-border lessons from progressive movements worldwide, and practical frameworks for what transfers to a U.S. context.
AI in campaigns
Ethical deployment in electoral politics, from research automation to persuasion testing, with guardrails for keeping trust intact.
Persuasion science
Frameworks rooted in neuroscience and behavioral psychology for designing messages that change minds rather than move metrics.
Trust-first communications
Campaign marketing built to rebuild institutional trust with skeptical, low-information audiences.
Five questions he can
actually answer
What is the current state of American politics?
Frank separates real trends from media noise, identifying which dynamics matter for understanding voter behavior, institutional legitimacy, and democratic health. Data-driven clarity in a chaotic information environment.
How can Democrats restore trust with ordinary people?
Beyond polling and platitudes. Concrete steps for rebuilding credibility, designing coalition strategy, and creating narratives that land with working-class and skeptical voters without pandering.
How did we get here?
Frank unpacks the structural, narrative, and psychological forces behind authoritarian drift. Not by blaming voters, but by diagnosing two decades of failure by institutions, parties, and progressive messaging.
What needs to change to prevent another crisis?
From narrative design to institutional reform to operational strategy, the shifts required for movements and institutions to recover legitimacy and build durable coalitions.
How should Democrats prepare for the next cycles?
Actionable frameworks for message design, coalition-building, persuasion, and operations, aimed at winning sustainably in midterms and downballot races rather than only in presidential years.
Four conversations ready to record
America has a story problem
How narratives, not policies, drive legitimacy, turnout, and polarization. Frank explains how voters construct the self-stories that guide their political identity, and what parties can concretely do to restore trust without pandering or abandoning principle.
The progressive playbook, global edition
Drawing on movements in Europe, Latin America, and beyond. Which messaging frames, coalition structures, and policy windows transfer to U.S. politics, and which ones backfire spectacularly.
AI on the campaign trail
Useful now, risky soon, governable always. Where AI is already delivering returns in research and persuasion testing, where it actively erodes credibility, and how to build guardrails that hold.
How voters change their minds
The behavioral psychology and neuroscience of persuasion. Why facts bounce off partisan brains, what makes a message stick, and how to engage low-trust audiences without condescending to them.
Frank on air
Most recently on the Better Minneapolis podcast with Terry White, on what Minnesota communities are still carrying after Operation Metro Surge and the experience of moral injury. Below, on the cost of living crisis.
Everything you need to book Frank
Contact
Availability
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM EST
Scheduling
Flexible, and happy to accommodate special recording needs
Microphone
Shure microphone with high-quality earbuds
Location
New Mexico, remote
Find Frank
LinkedIn, Altum Insight, Bluesky
Topic tags
Narrative strategy, public sentiment research, persuasion science, neuroscience, behavioral psychology, polarization, institutional trust, AI in campaigns, progressive strategy.
Book Frank
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, Eastern Time. All podcast booking handled through Heartcast Media.