There's something Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has loved as long as he's loved basketball: Sherlock Holmes. Like so many of us, he watched the old movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce on TV and fell under Holmes' spell; he even thought Holmes was a real detective. In 2015, when Kareem published his well-regarded "Mycroft Holmes," a mystery-adventure about Sherlock's smarter brother, he joined me on Off-Ramp to talk about it.

Kareem is smart; there's little in Doyle's stories about Mycroft, leaving the field open to him and his co-author Anna Waterhouse to tell new stories, and not incidentally let Kareem explore his Trinidadian heritage, and paint a more accurate picture of the multi-cultural London of Victorian England.

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.)

John Williams is so ubiquitous now, as former leader of the Boston Pops and the man behind the music for so many Lucas and Spielberg films; and old-fashioned lush orchestral scores are now so common, it's hard to believe they were endangered a few decades ago. But they were, and Alex Ross, the New Yorker music writer, says you can thank Williams. In a long Off-Ramp interview from 2016 with tons of musical examples, Alex makes the case for Williams, and debunks the notion that the maestro is any sort of plagiarist. He also gamely demonstrates how to properly hum the Star Wars theme.

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.)

The Pokemon Go craze might get people to see more public art ... would you live in a murder house? Surf Punks!

Meet an artist named Juanita Pina who lives on LA’s Skid Row. We’ll hear from Ringo Starr and talk with some of the hundreds of fans (like Scarlet, right) who celebrated his birthday with him in Hollywood. Tim Cogshell has another DIY film festival for Off-Ramp listeners, this time looking at 3 important films in the film noir style.

Kenzi Shiokava's big break at the Hammer's "Made in LA" ... remembering the passion of Jim Hangley, owner of Mustangs Only! ... take a siesta in Nappify's sleep pods ... a day in the life of Little Arabia ... St Thomas More comes to LA ... Dogs v Fireworks

Garrison Keillor looks back on decades of Prairie Home, the Lakers hire their 4th coach in as many years and we taste test CaliBurger, Pasadena's newest In-N-Out Clone

Wrath of Khan's director Nick Meyer shares the movie he made with his dad in the late 1950s ... sound intersection ideas, literally ... Pasadena's homeless champion retires after 21 years ... the last slavery movies you will ever need to see ...

LA's hottest new museum is is in a building downtown and only open a half hour a month, Tony Danza write letters to Tupac, bunnies glow downtown

John Doe, an icon of the LA punk scene, joins us to play songs from his new album, and to talk about a new memoir about the old days ... If you’ve been called for jury duty in downtown LA, there’s a good chance you went to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. But who was Clara Shortridge Foltz? ... You've seen the AIDS Healthcare Foundation billboards: they’re outrageous, memorable, and very effective. We talk with the man behind AHF’s often controversial outdoor ad campaigns.

Chaya Leah Esakhan, Persian-Jewish-American, meets the author of My Single Peeps ... Birding with Xiu Xiu ... How to write an AHF billboard ... ride in a B-24 ...