After graduating from Klein College of Media and Communication with a degree in media studies and production, Angel Marie Clardy, KLN ‘15, went on to continue her success as a media professional. Soon, her brother-in-law Kevin Strickland, CLA ‘03, reached out to her to start a podcast that aimed to highlight local changemakers. The two came together to create the All of the Above podcast in 2017, and since then have garnered plenty of support from Philadelphia-area creators.
Strickland, who studied political science at Temple University, was first drawn to the idea of a podcast when he and a friend invested in an online radio station but found that the station was more interested in their investment than their creative input. Despite this, he trusted that he had an ear for impactive radio. He approached Clardy for her expertise and welcomed her partnership. Her credentials spoke for themselves: in 2016, Clardy won a Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Trans-Media Sports Coverage” as an associate producer for NBC Sports Group covering the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She came around to Strickland’s requests and figured that creating a podcast to celebrate Philadelphia’s artists, entrepreneurs, politicians and activists could bring positive visibility to the city and broaden the hosts’ personal networks. As a result, they helped develop PHL Radio, a hub for local independent artists to air their work and All of the Above.
“I love PHL Radio because...usually all you hear is mainstream artists on different radio stations. Even on independent radio stations, you still hear mainstream artists,” Clardy says. “So the fact that we strictly just cover independent, I feel like they enjoy it so much more...They don't pay us anything, we don't ask for money, we literally just do it because that is our goal and our mission — to promote and highlight other individuals.”
All of the Above, named for its hosts’ ability to cover “any and everything” of interest, has aired more than 150 episodes. In addition to local guests, the show has featured familiar faces in the entertainment industry such as Brett Gray, who stars in the hit Netflix series On My Block, and Mitchell Edwards of Netflix’s Spinning Out and the CW’s All American. Clardy was even introduced to her fiancé, a local artist who is also involved in real estate, when he came onto the podcast as a guest.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the hosts from having physical guests on the show, it has not stopped their output. To stay engaged with their listeners, they have shifted gears to focus on producing video episodes that they post to their YouTube channel. In the future, they hope to launch talent showcases for independent creatives, business people and nonprofit workers to promote their work.
“We constantly hear [from] people — especially artists locally in Philly — that Philly doesn't support Philly,” Strickland says. “And we talked to a lot of artists who say, ‘Well, I'm going to go to New York, I'm going to go to Atlanta, I'm going to go to LA, I'm going to go where I’m appreciated.’ And I'm looking forward to being part of the change in that perception here in Philly, where people in Philadelphia do support the local artists before they get on, before they're nationally known and really have a large following. So we want to be at the forefront of that.”
Strickland and Clardy hope to connect with their audience further through All of the Above’s Instagram and Twitter accounts. The hosts welcome audience feedback and feature guests who have an established body of work. More information can be found on their website.