Episode 0: Welcome!

Hi, to those who don’t know me, my name is Gideon Caro McDonald. I am an artist and actor born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Welcome to the Philly Phone Book: a Podcast Artchive. Let me tell you a bit about it. The goal of this podcast is to give back to this city’s art community. I am incredibly lucky to have grown up surrounded and inspired by artists who shaped me into who I am today, so it’s only fair that I introduce those people to you. I’ll be interviewing as many artists as I can who are connected to Philly, covering all kinds of disciplines; actors, writers, musicians, visual artists, designers, filmmakers and more. I will give them a platform to share who they are, what they make, why they make it and who it’s for. I’ll be giving them a chance to promote upcoming projects, and to share their insight on why the arts community here is so special. 2025 has already brought a lot of change to Philly, whether it be the closure of universities once dedicated to gathering artists, theaters that will no longer hold performers, the uprising of AI taking jobs away from creatives, and hatred being disguised as political disagreements that are trying to silence marginalized voices. Queer voices, trans voices, POC voices just to name a few. So now more than ever, I felt it necessary to have meaningful, excited conversations with those voices, and share them for the city and beyond. This is my phone book, and it’s deserving of an art-chive.  Every Thursday, I’ll be launching a new episode with a guest and myself on all streaming platforms you listen to podcasts on. Leading up to that, starting the Sundays before, I’ll be announcing the guests, sharing their art and where to find them, and sneak peek of our conversation. Follow our Instagram, @phillyphonebook_pod to keep tabs on every artist I interview, and please support their work, I promise you’ll like it. For inquiries, feel free to DM me there, or email [email protected]. I can’t wait for you to listen.  ----more---- Host - Gideon Caro McDonald Editor - Fern Morehouse Cover Art - Ella Carter Theme Music - Valerie Barry