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.)

Kristen Bell is smart, fun, and a KPCC member. She's the main event this week, talking "Veronica Mars," her campaign against the pederazzi, and The Oscars.

The case for keeping the Figueroa Bridge; the Obscura Society; Queena Victoria's selfies; George Pal's Puppetoons in glorious Blu-ray.

RIP Sid Caesar - an exclusive interview; Henry Rollins gets the Ray Bradbury Creativity Award; a Cambodian waitress is becoming a car mechanic; just Kickstart me.

Our commentator seems to be like most Angelenos: she can't see the drought, so she doesn't believe in it. Plus, a new doc shows how auto racing shaped LA.

Can chimps and rhinos tell us anything about sex? Zoo animals lack coital finesse, and there’s no cuddling. Plus: three great guacamole recipes from Bricia Lopez of Guelaguetza.

A museum for Velvet paintings. A fly that decapitates innocent ants in Glendale; can happen to us? Our love/hate relationship with palm trees. The big hockey game.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez name-checked in The Simpsons; Barry McGovern and bleak, black Beckett; the Whisky's business model; and a visit to Night Vale.

We mark the 20th anniversary of the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake by starting our show at the epicenter of the disaster; and we consider Sheriff Baca's sudden resignation.