Altum Insight’s Pilot Podcast: What we do and the rural study recap

Welcome to Altum Insight's inaugural podcast, hosted by Adrianne Marsh and Frank A. Spring and produced by Kate Monson. Altum Insight is a qualitative research firm that uses cognitive neuroscience and narrative science to understand voter behavior. Moving beyond traditional polling (a snapshot of the "what"), our work focuses on the "why" – the underlying identities and stories voters tell themselves that inform behavior.

Our first episode focuses on Altum's digital ethnography of rural Nebraska voters, which found a deep-seated disconnect between voters' cultural values and the Democratic Party. The study also reveals a surprising amount of unprompted anxiety about AI. Check it out here:

For these voters, being "rural" is not just a geographic label; it is a primary lens through which they view the world. This identity is defined by concrete community ties, mutual respect, and a "slow and peaceful" lifestyle.

The "Red Wall" in rural areas persists because Democrats are seen as the party of urban values. Democrats often come up short by promoting policy ideas rather than connecting on a values-based level. As Frank Spring said:

"Progressives love to bring facts to a feelings fight. We love to reason with people and lead with policy... and we've been doing that with rural voters for decades and we see the results."

In a major unexpected finding, rural voters expressed intense fear of AI. Their concerns were not primarily about losing jobs, but about the social and moral world they see their children inheriting. For voters who are already broadly critical of the impact of social media, Spring says, "The fear is AI is gonna be social media on steroids."

Altum's findings suggest that because AI is felt as a threat to core rural values, Democrats have a unique opportunity to use it as a "wedge" to break the Republican hold – but only if they they frame it as a moral issue rather than a technical or strictly financial one. Protecting kids and communities from the potential social erosion of AI is, according to Spring, "meeting rural folks right where they are."

Looking to the election this fall, the Democratic Party will likely be "borrowing" many voters who don't necessarily agree with our candidates, but who are rejecting the current Republican leadership. As Marsh notes, this won't be sufficient for Democrats to build a durable majority:

"We've got another round to go. We better be in fighting shape... We are gonna borrow a lot of voters... but they're not gonna lie to themselves and say we won the round. The Republicans punched themselves in the face."

Ultimately, in order to rebuild trust among key groups where the Democratic brand has been losing ground, we have to move from talking at voters to actively listening to their stories.