Ep. 46: Sam Daley-Harris on Transformational Advocacy

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Sam Daley-Harris discussing transformational advocacy and the role of music in civic engagement.

Laura Forcum and Lauren Hall host “We Made This Political,” a podcast about making politics more about flourishing and less about power, and interview civic entrepreneur Sam Daley-Harris, author of Reclaiming Our Democracy. Daley-Harris recounts his path from percussionist and former symphony musician to founding the anti-poverty lobby RESULTS after confronting world hunger and discovering most students couldn’t name their member of Congress. He contrasts “transactional” actions like petitions with “transformational advocacy” built on recruitment and community, training, practice, coaching, relationship-building, deep listening, and encouraging people to move beyond their comfort zones. The conversation explores how music-informed rehearsal and collective experience support advocacy, why cynicism can be paralyzing, and how sustained citizen engagement can influence outcomes, including efforts affecting proposed cuts to the EPA, maternal and child health, and the Global Fund. 00:00 Podcast Intro 00:51 Sam’s Music Past 06:28 From Music to Advocacy 10:48 Music Skills in Activism 18:30 Collective Effervescence 20:47 Beating Cynicism With Action 29:24 Transactional vs Transformational…

People in this episode

Hosts: Laura Forcum, Lauren Hall

Guest: Sam Daley-Harris

Topics covered

• advocacy
• civic engagement
• music in activism
• transformational advocacy
• community building
• political participation

Keywords

• advocacy
• civic engagement
• music
• community
• politics
• transformational
• RESULTS
• EPA
• Global Fund

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: RESULTS, EPA, Global Fund

Books & works: Reclaiming Our Democracy

More episodes of We Made This Political Podcast

• Ep. 54: Nathan Smolensky on Independent Voters and Finding Common Ground · June 8, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Ep. 53: Ben Appel on Gender Heresy and Belonging · June 1, 2026 · 1h 16m
• Ep. 52: Corey Nathan on Religion, Politics, and Living Together · May 26, 2026 · 1h 3m
• Ep. 50: Leah Sargent on the Dignity of Dependence · May 19, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Ep. 49: David Beckmeyer on Outrage Overload, Tech, Media, and Tribalism · May 11, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Ep. 48: Colleen Shogan on Public History, Polarization, and the Future of the National Archives · May 4, 2026 · 1h 4m