Did you you read Caitlin Hernandez's LAist longread about the history of LAX and how to keep it from driving you totally around the bend? This time on Off-Ramp we're digging into one of the most surprising and weirdest aspects of the airport's history ... when the airport created a ghost-town that today resembles what LA will look like a few months after the apocalypse. We'll drive there with author Denise Hamilton, who set a novel there, and a former resident.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

When the Grammy Museum honored Big Jay McNeely in 2017, when he was 90, they said:

McNeely is a true original and the last of a generation of blues/R&B musicians who inspired the early rock pioneers, and are still around to remind us where popular music came from.

As Off-Ramp jazz correspondent Sean J. O'Connell put it when he interviewed him for the show: 

"Big Jay McNeely was etched into pop music immortality in 1951. Photographer Bob Willoughby captured McNeely at a concert at Los Angeles's Olympic Auditorium 1951. In the photo, the Watts native is blasting his tenor sax on his back, the camera capturing the raised fists of post-war teenage hysteria seething in undershirts and pompadours at the foot of the stage. From Central Avenue with Charlie Parker and Art Tatum in the 1940s to the R&B circuit of the '50s and '60s, McNeely was there through a roller coaster of musical evolutions and had a good time along the way. His showmanship and soul are both youthful and timeless. He is rock & roll history, alive and well."

Big Jay died a year later, but not before our listeners got to hear his story, and now you do, too.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Bob Willoughby photo used with permission from his estate.

Bob Kholos; City Hall Tower; It isn't easy being Green; Sana Sana; Santeria Botanica; Rooney Weighs In; Trivia: AnimeExpo

AnimeExpo 2007 This (pictured) is what your kids are up to when you're not looking, and it may be the future of the entertainment industry. But don't worry too much. Anime and manga are mostly about doing the right thing. Come with animation expert Charles Solomon and me to AnimeExpo 2007! - John Rabe

Happy Birthday de Havilland; Skirball's Ark; The NFL, not!; Bug's Eye View; Eden's Edge at the Hammer; Homeless Crackdown; Re-Gifting Sound; iWait; What Are You Doing for Summer Break?; The Art of Haiku; There Are Some Things Alli Doesn't Alleviate...; Futile Fuel?; Plaque Attack

Dixon's West; Landscaping America; The ABC's of BBQ; Matthew Monahan in Eden's Edge; Caruso; The (other) Happiest Place on Earth; Malibooster Malice; Short Attention Span Theatre; Animayhem; Reporter's Roundtable: Five More Years; Adios to Aguilar; Short-Sighted Shirt

Architectural Texture; It's Not a Knack; Fresh from the Can; Sopranos Sleep with the Fishes; Beyond Muscle Beach; Artists At Eden's Edge; Humble Art; Exene's L.A.; The Art of Punk; The Politics of Marriage; The Nancy Drew Philes; Farewell to Rachael Myrow; Have something to tell us?

Artists at Eden's Edge ; Hitting the Links; Holy Gifts; Space Aliens and Sea Fish; Alternate Route; Breaking the Rules of the Road; Driving with the Top Down; The Fast Sandwich; Space Talk; Bozo The Bling-Bling Clown; Dance Legend Remembered; Letters: Civil Disobedience

Summer Fun in Malibu This week, watchdog Jenny Price gives us tips on how to enjoy Malibu despite the efforts of some residents.

A Last Goodbye; Hello Tiki-Ti ; Tiki Tribute; Ghost in the Machine; Dad's in Jail; For want of a fingernail...; Eve's Apple; Urban Survivalist; Web Extra