Featuring Luis Miranda

a political campaign that you won't hear anywhere else. All Right, you guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode and I'll see you soon. First of all, I am so excited that you are on my podcast. It truly I we have so much to talk about. I watched your documentary. It is incredible. So first, thank you for having me. I had a fantastic time. And the best thing it's that many times in lie if I always have to prepare when I'm going into an interview politics, an issue,

an agency and institution, I always need to know more. Uh. The great thing about doing interviews about the documentaries that we're talking about my life, I actually know you know pretty well. You know it pretty well? Yes, yes, so no preparation needed. Well, that's awesome. I think you've been in the public eye, but you've been working a lot of the times behind the scenes. What has that been like having a camera crew follow you for so long?

I I started thinking about j J. The director, and God Los the camera person and the sound person, and I started thinking that they were furniture. Really, yes, how do you make that mental distinction, though, where the cameras become furniture to pretend that they're out there so you can be your fully authentic self by ignoring them. Really, I could be good at ignoring as my wife or or my kids when they're telling me something that I

don't I don't want to hear. Also, having the world see your life like it's you've never exposed yourself before. What was that like? The opening scene for those who will see the documentary, it's the heart attack and sort of in the doctor's office, my cardiologists and uh. I have gotten so many texts and emails and calls from people who I haven't seen in a decade. In two decades, different from you, I'm old. I have been making friends for the last fifty five years yours. Well, that's awesome.

I think I have been really interested, especially since about activism and taking action in your communities. UM, and you have done so much with you know, taking power back, and for people my age, it can be really intimidating to start when you see so many people, whether it's in government, politics or just people telling you you can't do something. What advice do you have to just get started?

That you got to stop being the kid that follows order, because you know, we we are trained to follow the advice of our parents, to follow the advice of the teacher, to become social beings. All weird toward is the rules of the game. And you are a better kid it if you follow the rules of the game. So it's how do you begin to transform and begin to check that the rules of the game may not be fair, that they need to change. And when you begin to realize that they need to change, then you begin to

develop your own leadership. Some people are respectful leaders and use the political process to do that. Others are in the streets, UH, sort of challenging the status quo, and each of us it's gonna pick whatever leadership style comes with our own temperament. And then it is that time when you begin to challenge UH. The norms and the rules that you really begin to experiment, what feels comfortable

in making change, what kind of leader I am. Yeah, I really liked what you said about we're in such a critical time in our country, UM, And I personally think that a lot of things are being re evaluated, whether that's politics or UM sports or Broadway or the education system. And I feel like this time, though it's really scary, it's a time for change and innovation because it's making us re evaluate different things. UM. And something that I really wanted to talk to you about is education.

I am very fascinated and passionate about this. I know your son Miguel has a d h D and I've I have learning differences. I've struggled it with my entire life. I have auditory, expressive and receptive processing. And I've learned so much and this passion has really grown, and I've the research. I've learned. So many people don't have the ability to know they have learning differences and also be at a school where they can learn how they learn

and know they're not stupid. And I think it's really important as the progression of our society for people to know they're not stupid and that they can make an impact. So my question is what can we do in society and politics to make it to make education for everyone normalize so kids know that they can impact, make an impact, you know they're not stupid. First, we need to make

the realization that you explained in your question. Uh, we all learn differently, and the difficulty with education is that it tries to normalize all of those into a particular pattern, which is the way to learn. At the moment, we challenge that because we realize that kids learn in different ways, then we begin to build an educational system that has possibilities for everyone. But it really starts with parents realizing that their child learns differently and not feel a shame

of that. And it's normal. Everyone's brains are wired differently. Absolutely, But some parents they went to the Ivy League school, They learned in the classroom with a teacher and kids and excel. So the fact that their kids may have a d h D. Executive functions issues, auditory perception issues, whatever it is, difference, it's never what our society does best in accepting. Yeah, you have to start by the parents accepting, because then you normalize it for your child

for sure, you should. You should do it as early as you can. Many parents denied reality. You know, in Spanish we call the paco lamano tried to cover the sky with your hand. You're really just looking at your hand the sky. It's filled out there, And many many parents wait until something catastrophic happened in the learning possibilities of that child. The earlier you say, my child learned differently, let me look for the kind of school I remember

when I started looking for schools for Miguel he was four. Really, you're someone that they don't stop to make something happen, and I want to be like that. So in your advice, what can I do and other people my age to make sure that we can fix this issue? How do how does someone like I get started? When I might not be taken seriously by adults? When you begin to

make change, you begin to be taken seriously. My sense it's that even when you don't think that you are changing, just by talking to somebody else, you are changing somebody else's perception. I hope so. And like like you said, we're living in the weirdest time. Um As you've been in politics, you've been in political consultant for so many years, What are your thoughts? Because I was a first time voter.

I'm so excited that I voted, so exciting, and so the thing is Miguel, Miguel was also it's so exciting. So it was so liberating because you know, I became very interested in politics ever since the election. Um, and the fact that as a political consultant, what are your thoughts, because I haven't lived through this before, having a president who hasn't even conceded, I actually want to know what

you think. Also because this is the first time in my lifetime, so it's not just me, it's not just you, uh, that we had such an asshole in the White House. So so my reaction at my age may be different from yours. For me, it's more of, oh my god, every president in my lifetime has transfer power because that's what strengthened the democracy in which we live. You know. It reminds me of of the song that the king sings in Hamilton's when he learned to true. It's too true, George,

George Washington, it's stepping aside. His response is the lyric is I didn't know that something a person can do. Yeah, So I imagine that at the end, Uh, he will probably not concede but moved out. So for everyone listening, UM, a lot of I know, I've been getting a lot of d m s and a lot of people they're like, I couldn't vote. What can I do? And it's really intimidating, not knowing where to start. How can people make the smallest impact in their communities? What are the little things

that actually make an impact. I get that from adults all the time because they're not citizens, so they cannot register to vote. They can participate in the political process, but they cannot do that ultimate step, which is to vote. So in the Latino community, immigrant communities, those of those who have that right have to overperform to make sure we're not leaving anybody behind. It's like we're voting ones, but we're voting for many people. And I think it's

just getting involved. Uh, it's writing those letters. During this election, were many organizations and you can't believe how important they are because cumulative they have an impact. I think, yeah, I think people need to realize that their voice does matter, no matter what age they are, that you actually can make an impact. I think it's really interesting the place that we're in because it's this has never happened before. Um, And I'm I'm currently in constitutional law is my history

class right now. I'm a senior in high school and I'm learning a lot and something that I don't understand that if you can explain this to me, Puerto Rico is a US territory. Why why can't you guys vote? Like? Why you guys are a US territory? And I feel like I just don't understand it because constitutionally, we are a territory and as a result, we only have the privileges of the American citizenship that are granted by the territories. And Puerto Rico doesn't get the federal assistance of most

federal programs because those are curtailed by law. Something that I find so fascinating is that you holds together miraculously, Hamilton and Puerto Rico. The stresses of that were very intense. And I know that you were told to try and have less stress since your heart attack. So doing that experience, how did you try and have a healthy balance between low stress in such a high stress situation. Well, nobody told me to have less stress. Okay, so people told me.

I need to eat right, I need to do exercise, and I need to take my pills every day. And I do those three things religiously. The stress part, that's my wife. You probably talk to my wife before you get on the air. Here is that's my wife talking. That's my kids talking. It's not a medically directed thing.

It's it's all about how you cope with it. Um. I find that so interesting because I'm still trying to figure out how to not let the stress take go over to where I'm paralyzed and can't do anything but use it as motivation to actually get stuff done. We have to take a quick break, but when we come back, I want to talk to you about the process of running a political campaign, what it's like working with your family, and I actually have a few more questions about your documentary.

We'll be back right after this and we're back. You have done so much and you have been a really incredible political consultant, and I am so fascinated by this. What is the process of running a campaign and what's something that people might not know about the process that it's a mixed of art and science. You need to know who are you running and everything around that candidate.

You want to know the person's strength, the person as weaknesses, the person's past, what they are not proud of, and what they are proud of, because you are presenting the candidate with the best assets possible, but you need to know what are the skeletons, what are the things that that person is not proud of? If they come up in the campaign, you need to have known to handle them in the best possible light. So that's one set of variables, and that set of variables is pretty scientific.

You want to know as much as possible about who it's the person that is going to get elected collecting data and in my head also I only want to work with people that are good people. I don't want to work with bad people. There are plenty of those already, and they're consultants that do this only for the money. I I don't want to do that at this stage in my life. The second said of scientific data, it's

the district where you're running. You want to know who lives there, Who are the voters, how many males, how many females, Who is a likely voter, who is not a likely voter? Do you need to register more people? What's the age composition, what's the ideology? You want to know as much as possible, and then the rest is

your guts. I was one of the first Latino community leaders to go and support President elected Biden, and my friends will tell me to a fast local, your crazy, but my guts, we're telling me that he was the kind of leader that could defeat Trump. When I used to go to therapy, my therapist used to tell me I love your mind, I love the way you think, but I am totally delighted about your guts because they

never betray you exactly. And I feel like it's such a powerful thing that people don't realize how strong it is. And intuition is. Um. There's a part of documentary when you you tell in Manuel to continue writing work on his ar and I know that was really hard for you. Um when you finally saw Hamilton's and in the Heights, was it at that moment you knew it was like, Okay, he's gonna be okay. I always know he will be okay because I knew he was smart enough to do

the next best thing for him. Uh, and he knew he loved I knew he loved teaching. So in my head is not going to be the lawyer that I want him to be, but doesn't matter. At the end of the day, if this were not to work out, he will be an amazing teacher and he will spend his life educating kids to the fullest of their potential. When Jeffrey Seller and the producers agreed to take in

the Heights, that I knew that game is over. That's when I knew, because if there were amazing, religible producers like Jeffrey Seller ready to say yes two in the Heights, that my kid was good, good enough to be on stage. I find the whole creative process so fascinating with everything. Would you ever I know you love show tunes and you're very You're very smart. Would you ever consider writing a musical or a play about something? No, because I'm not good enough. I don't know about that. No, I

am not good enough. I assure you that I am not good enough. I could sing a song I actually have, I don't believe a decent voice. I could write a song, but it's not good enough, and I am too competitive to settle for something that I know it's not the best. I think it's really cool that you know what you're passionate about and that you you're perfectionists. I'm the same way. You want to do things right and you don't want

to you don't want to. Have asked something. What is it like working with your family, because I know you guys all work together and that can be complicated, but it's also great. It is. It is complicated, but it is. You're absolutely it's great. I a lot of people my generation see their kids for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, for birthdays, for anniversaries, for special occasions. I talk to my kids every day of my life, and I am forever thankful, uh that I can talk to my kids every day

of my life and about very different things. And we have learned to separate work. I give you an example of yesterday. I textedly Manuel last night around eleven o'clock at night, because I knew he was coming to his apartment from the set, and I said, I need to talk to you tomorrow and we have breakfast and he responded, only if it is for fun, and I responded, it is not. So let me guess you did not have

breakfast this morning. No, we actually did. What I said was I'll make abenna, I make an awesome oatmeal, and I know he loves my oatmeal, so I said, I make abenna. I'll bring you abenna, and then we'll spend just a little time together because we just have to take care of some business that we have to take care of today, so it was not a social location. We called his kids, We ate abenna while we handle business,

and then I left that oatmeal sounds delicious. Okay, we have to take one more quick break, but when we come back, I want to talk to you about how you have been compared to Hamilton's and the charity you want to highlight. We'll be back right after this and we're back. Something that I think is really interesting that on the documentary is that limnlill talked about how he was actually playing you in Hamilton the entire time, which

I find so fascinating. Um, But I think there's a difference between because Hamilton's his relentlessness distracted him from his family, but that's not the case for your family is your priority. And I'm always trying to find a balance between work and school and how to still be a human. How how have you found the healthy balance while still prioritizing your family By prioritizing and I tell you a little story. When my daughter was in second grade, uh, she stopped

party six. The teacher told us that she was not learning multiplication and that she was going to have a real hard time learning math. For the next several months, every night I was home, I didn't go to that meeting, I did and go to that other meeting. I was teaching my daughter multiplication tables, just the all fashioned way. Two times two is four, two times three is six,

and so on. And then when she learned them, when she began to get aced all of her quizzes in second grade, then I went back to all my meetings. It's a matter of making what it's the priority, our priority, and it's the only way to do it, to prioritize what it's needed immediately. I think that I think it's so important to just like, like you're saying, prioritize, but also, you know, you can always make time for something if you really want to, when you're really passionate about it something.

I've been feeling very helpless this year, like so many people. So what I wanted to do with the second season of my podcast is to highlight a charity um that isn't talked about enough and that we should raise money for and raise awareness. So it's wondering what is the charity that you're passionate about. I am passionate about the Hispanic Federation. Myself and a group of Latinos in New

York started it back in eight nine, uh. And we started it because we knew, just like Catholic Charities and United Jewish Appeel and Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, that people have to give, but people give when you ask them to give. Uh. And in the Latino community, I know we will grow as a community. I know that we will become the largest minority group and the next generation of Latinos it's gonna be paid for somebody's social security.

So we need to make sure that they are productive citizens and they become an integral part of our nation. And that's what the Hispanic Federation does by helping organizations that are creating healthier Latino communities. So I've always been passionate about it since we started it back in eighty nine ninety UH. They were instrumental in the work that we did in Puerto Rico after Hurricane and Maria. They are instrumental in registering people and getting them out to vote,

and they're instrumental in in healthier communities. Well, I'm going to link it in my bio, so go check out my instagram if you haven't, so you can check out this awesome organization something that I find so interesting. I have been a big Hamilton's fan for a long time, and I feel like it's only fitting too um end this with you know, the constant theme within the show was what he was obsessed with his legacy. What do you hope your legacy is most important? That I was

a good dad? Uh, that by their actions my kids do good things in life and become good parents and raise good kids and teach good values. You know. I enjoy so the institutions that I have helped create. Ah, But at the end of the day, a the only role that it's unique and that I have had from the moment my kids appear in my life to the

moment I die. Instead of being a parent, people get married and get divorce, they end up with three wives like a president in a lifetime, and so you're gonna be a husband several times in life, but you are a parent all of the time. For me, that is the most important job. If in the process I helped create other things that last me, that's fantastic. But ulike Hamilton's, I am not concerned about the financial system of the United States. I have concerned that I've raised good citizens. Well,

I think you did that. And I just want to thank you much for coming on my podcast because it truly means a lot. Thank you, thank you for having me. All right, guys, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode. Don't forget to check out the Hispanic Federation. They are truly doing some incredible work. Also, if you haven't watched Sampre Louise yet, please do. When I tell you this documentary is one of my favorites that I've

seen in such a long time. I am not joking. Also, go follow Louise Miranda on Instagram and on Twitter, and if you haven't already, please subscribe leave a comment. I always love to hear feedback. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram at It's Sammy J. That's I T S S A M M Y J A y E. I will see you guys next week for a new episode. By