Sam Martin, Ph.D. is the Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs and Associate Professor at Boise State University. Her research focuses on political storytelling and civic identity. Martin has produced four books about American democracy including "Columns to Character: The Presidency and the Press in the Digital Age (2018), "Decoding the Digital Church: Evangelical Storytelling and the Election of Donald J. Trump" (2021) and The Future is Now (2024), a book for teachers celebrating Senator Frank Church’s centennial. She works closely with K-12 educators to support meaningful civic instruction. Martin is considered an expert in: political communication, deliberative democracy, public discourse, the American presidency, civics education, conservative social movements, religious voters, media effects and media theory.