Spark of Trust

Keiron McCammon
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Trust is not lost. It is awaiting a spark. Spark of Trust is an interview show about the people rebuilding trust in our communities, in the institutions we depend on, and in the information we share. One long, honest conversation with someone doing the work: what they're building, what it's costing them, and one thing you can do this week. Not a panel on how bad things are. The numbers are real, the failures get named, and nobody is selling a playbook. No ads, no sponsors. Host Keiron McCammon sits with the people who chose the harder road on principle — founders, researchers, reformers, organizers, technologists — most of them invisible to each other. If that's your work, this is where you find out how much company you have. Proof the work is happening. Language for what you've been feeling. Company for the road. New episodes weekly. Most conversations unfold over two parts, with a companion essay at sparkoftrust.com. Spark of Trust — Igniting the Trust Revolution.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    A Spark With Matt Abrams, Part I

    In the fall of 2024, in a Central Oregon county on the dividing line of the Greater Idaho movement, thirty strangers chosen by lottery spent two weekends deciding what their community should do about youth homelessness. Matt Abrams watched people who walked in afraid of one another produce 22 supermajority recommendations, and measured the trust between them six months later. Part I is how he got there: a lumber town childhood between loggers and environmentalists, a courtroom experiment in decency, and the case that civic assemblies are not efficient, "but holy hell are they effective." Disclosure: Matt is a friend of Keiron's, and his $1 Billion for Trust organization and this show are fellow travelers. Keiron has sat in on their working calls; they often compare notes. Reach Keiron directly: keiron@sparkoftrust.com Spark of Trust — Igniting the Trust Revolution. Episode Timestamps: 00:00 Fear of not being heard opens the show 00:28 A Spark With Matt Abrams, Part I 01:00 Welcoming Matt Abrams, the venture capitalist turned trust builder 02:43 The fake 9/11 Quran emails that started Matt's hunt for trustworthy information, and the humility it took him decades to learn 08:06 Growing up in a divided Oregon logging town 10:20 The Decency Project, and how one courtroom experiment scaled into civic assemblies 19:32 What a civic assembly actually is 21:32 How Central Oregon used one to tackle youth homelessness 27:13 Why trust, not truth, is democracy's real foundation 31:10 Loving the rock: Sisyphus and the price of caring about trust 32:28 Is distrust ever healthy? 40:06 What most people get wrong about how divided we are 44:34 A segue into Part II If this conversation named something you've been feeling, share it with someone who needs it. And follow the show wherever you listen. It helps the right people find it. Connect with Spark of Trust https://sparkoftrust.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@SparkofTrust https://www.linkedin.com/company/sparkoftrust https://www.instagram.com/sparkoftrust/ https://www.facebook.com/sparkoftrust https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/spark-of-trust/id6807994008 https://open.spotify.com/show/3XYhVqgSkTCGMpUYiRZDAQ?si=befe38707d834864 Our guests' views are their own, shared to encourage honest conversation. They don't necessarily reflect those of Spark of Trust or the host, and nothing here is legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. Until next time, keep being the spark that ignites the Trust Revolution.

    A Spark With Matt Abrams, Part I

  2. Sep 30

    A Spark With Rob Chapman & Harry Hobson, Part II

    Neya uses AI to rebuild neighborhood connection, at a moment when the prevailing story is that AI will finish off whatever human connection the feed left standing. Rob Chapman and Harry Hobson take that head-on: what they're building, why the business model charges for a connection made rather than attention held, and why they'd rather grow slowly than be a platform people aren't sure about. Disclosure: Keiron is an investor in Neya. Time Stamps: 00:00 - What makes Neya feel different 00:22 – Spark Of Trust - A Spark With Rob Chapman & Harry Hobson, Part II 00:54 - Welcome back to part two: what Neya is, and why the founders chose AI 04:00 - The AI super neighbor: hosting, moderating, and purposeful orchestration 09:31 - The founders' biggest risk, and a day in the life of Neya 13:41 - Building community at the pace of trust, and the latent demand to help 15:50 - Faint needs, conditional preferences, and the marketplace behind them 19:57 - Why local requests go unanswered today, and building a business model around trust instead of attention 27:57 - Where AI erodes trust, and rebuilding it through people and place 32:36 - What success looks like, legacy, and measuring impact without gaming the metric 40:12 - Early evidence, scaling partnerships, and the vision of a new institution 44:56 - One spark for listeners, and closing thoughts Find your people nearby. Neya helps you find local groups, events and neighbours who share your interests, so you can feel more at home where you live. https://www.joinneya.com/ The paired essay, "You Don't Build Trust by Telling Someone to Trust You", is at https://www.sparkoftrust.com/p/you-dont-build-trust-by-telling-someone-to-trust-you Connect with Spark of Trust https://sparkoftrust.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@SparkofTrust https://www.linkedin.com/company/sparkoftrust https://www.instagram.com/sparkoftrust/ https://www.facebook.com/sparkoftrust https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/spark-of-trust/id6807994008 https://open.spotify.com/show/3XYhVqgSkTCGMpUYiRZDAQ?si=befe38707d834864 Our guests' views are their own, shared to encourage honest conversation. They don't necessarily reflect those of Spark of Trust or the host, and nothing here is legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. Until next time, keep being the spark that ignites the Trust Revolution

    A Spark With Rob Chapman & Harry Hobson, Part II

  3. Sep 23

    A Spark With Rob Chapman & Harry Hobson, Part I

    Rob Chapman and Harry Hobson have spent years watching trust retreat when people reach for it directly. Their conclusion, and the thing they built a company on: you cannot rebuild trust by trying to rebuild trust. You smuggle it in with something else. Make an ordinary, useful thing easy, and let trust accrue as the residue. Disclosure: Keiron is an investor in Neya. Time Stamps: 0:00 - Trust as the foundation of healthy communities 0:29 - Spark Of Trust - A Spark With Rob Chapman & Harry Hobson, Part I 1:01 - Welcome to the show: how Rob and Harry met, and the ten-year path to founding Neya 6:31 - Why trust became personal for each of them, and the "adequacy of trust" tipping point 13:02 - What's at stake when trust breaks down: war, riots, and the cost of low trust 19:59 - Inside Neighborly Lab: the loneliness hub and the Newham deaf community project 25:55 - From local wins to systemic change, and the biggest lesson on contact theory 31:40 - Why digital infrastructure matters as much as physical spaces 38:08 - Why trust can't be tackled head-on, and how it's rebuilt after being lost 44:38 - Jane Jacobs on small interactions, and closing thoughts 46:36 - Outro and preview of part two The paired essay, "You Don't Build Trust by Telling Someone to Trust You", is at https://www.sparkoftrust.com/p/you-dont-build-trust-by-telling-someone-to-trust-you Find your people nearby. Neya helps you find local groups, events and neighbours who share your interests, so you can feel more at home where you live https://www.joinneya.com/ Thanks for listening to and watching Spark of Trust. If this conversation named something you've been feeling, share it with someone who needs it. And follow the show wherever you listen. It helps the right people find it. Connect with Spark of Trust https://sparkoftrust.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@SparkofTrust https://www.linkedin.com/company/sparkoftrust https://www.instagram.com/sparkoftrust/ https://www.facebook.com/sparkoftrust https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/spark-of-trust/id6807994008 https://open.spotify.com/show/3XYhVqgSkTCGMpUYiRZDAQ?si=befe38707d834864 Our guests' views are their own, shared to encourage honest conversation. They don't necessarily reflect those of Spark of Trust or the host, and nothing here is legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. Until next time, keep being the spark that ignites the Trust Revolution.

    A Spark With Rob Chapman & Harry Hobson, Part I

  4. Sep 16

    A Spark With Keiron McCammon

    The chair is turned around for episode one. Dwayne Kerrigan — entrepreneur, host of The Dwayne Kerrigan Podcast, and a dear friend — interviews Keiron McCammon about why Spark of Trust exists at all. It starts with a wrong answer: Keiron went looking for what broke in 2022, blamed social media, and found something underneath it. Trust broke in three acts over six decades — first our communities, then our institutions, then our information environment — each stacking on the one before, so no single fix, founder, or organization repairs it. What follows is an hour and a half on that, and on why the honest response is not a solution but a signal. Time stamps 00:00 – Trust is awaiting a spark 02:57 - Where this started: a 2022 realization 04:58 - Two wrong diagnoses before the real one 05:46 - The root cause: a breakdown of trust 06:08 - Three acts: community, institutions, information 07:59 - It didn't start with Facebook 08:21 - Why this is a wicked problem, not a hard one 09:08 - No one institution or person can fix this 09:26 - The show's premise: the bat signal and reigniting trust 10:17 - The builders nobody's funding 11:44 - The honest starting point 14:41 - Up next: Neya and rebuilding community 16:55 - Trust rebuilt through small useful acts 18:28 - Why the show is called Spark of Trust 19:22 - Trust is a stacking event 23:03 - Community decline since the '60s, institutions since the '70s 25:37 - Trust in institutions, now under 30% 29:48 - Maybe we're right not to trust them 31:17 - How institutions get captured 34:22 - What trustworthy education, healthcare, and news could look like 37:45 - Technology's long history of speeding up information 47:07 - You're not alone 52:45 - The return on collisions 54:10 - The Team of Teams model 57:35 - From information network to action network 1:05:45 - The stakes when trust breaks down 1:06:58 - Building companies that protect the mission 1:13:09 - The one spark: choose who you do business with 1:15:25 - The close: I'm one spark, looking for others If this conversation named something you've been feeling, share it with someone who needs it. And follow the show wherever you listen. It helps the right people find it. Connect with Spark of Trust https://sparkoftrust.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@SparkofTrust https://www.linkedin.com/company/sparkoftrust https://www.instagram.com/sparkoftrust/ https://www.facebook.com/sparkoftrust https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/spark-of-trust/id6807994008 https://open.spotify.com/show/3XYhVqgSkTCGMpUYiRZDAQ?si=befe38707d834864 Our guests' views are their own, shared to encourage honest conversation. They don't necessarily reflect those of Spark of Trust or the host, and nothing here is legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. Until next time, keep being the spark that ignites the Trust Revolution.

    A Spark With Keiron McCammon

  5. Season 1 Trailer

    Spark of Trust - Trailer

    Trust is not lost. It is awaiting a spark. Spark of Trust is an interview show about the people rebuilding trust in our communities, in the institutions we depend on, and in the information we share. One long, honest conversation with someone doing the work: what they're building, what it's costing them, and one thing you can do this week. Not a panel on how bad things are. The numbers are real, the failures get named, and nobody is selling a playbook. No ads, no sponsors. Host Keiron McCammon sits with the people who chose the harder road on principle — founders, researchers, reformers, organizers, technologists — most of them invisible to each other. If that's your work, this is where you find out how much company you have. Proof the work is happening. Language for what you've been feeling. Company for the road. New episodes weekly, 60 to 75 minutes, each one paired with an essay at sparkoftrust.com. Spark of Trust — Igniting the Trust Revolution. If this conversation named something you've been feeling, share it with someone who needs it. And follow the show wherever you listen. It helps the right people find it. Connect with Spark of Trust https://sparkoftrust.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@SparkofTrust https://www.linkedin.com/company/sparkoftrust https://www.instagram.com/sparkoftrust/ https://www.facebook.com/sparkoftrust Our guests' views are their own, shared to encourage honest conversation. They don't necessarily reflect those of Spark of Trust or the host, and nothing here is legal, financial, medical, or professional advice. Until next time, keep being the spark that ignites the Trust Revolution.

    Spark of Trust - Trailer
  • 1 Trailer
    4 Episodes

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Trust is not lost. It is awaiting a spark. Spark of Trust is an interview show about the people rebuilding trust in our communities, in the institutions we depend on, and in the information we share. One long, honest conversation with someone doing the work: what they're building, what it's costing them, and one thing you can do this week. Not a panel on how bad things are. The numbers are real, the failures get named, and nobody is selling a playbook. No ads, no sponsors. Host Keiron McCammon sits with the people who chose the harder road on principle — founders, researchers, reformers, organizers, technologists — most of them invisible to each other. If that's your work, this is where you find out how much company you have. Proof the work is happening. Language for what you've been feeling. Company for the road. New episodes weekly. Most conversations unfold over two parts, with a companion essay at sparkoftrust.com. Spark of Trust — Igniting the Trust Revolution.

Information

  • Creator
    Keiron McCammon
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Keiron McCammon
  • Show Website
    Spark of Trust