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.)

A pristine fallout shelter in the Valley ... the Channel Island Fox makes a comeback from extinction ... the USS Indianapolis ... a time machine in LA City Hall: the mayoral portrait gallery.

How strong are the Watts Towers? Do you know the Natural History Museum's newest taxidermist? And military erotic fiction: 50 Shades of Khaki?

We talk to Dr. George Fishbeck, Los Angeles' most beloved weatherman, page through graphic novelist Gilbert Hernandez's Marble Season and more!

We go to the corner of Hollywood and LaBrea as Stevie Wonder helps Shotgun Tom Kelly get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, talk with a photographer of very small things, explore the Rolling Stones' San Bernardino roots, and reconsider the New Hollywood's "flops."

Billy Ray Cyrus and his Hillbilly Heart ... puppet month ... hidden and forbidden staircases ...

A lifesaving moment at the Boston Marathon ... talking with Stephen Hawking ... Mazda unveils its first diesel racecar ... real racecar drivers talk about LA traffic pet peeves ... Stoltze and real people on the LA mayor's race ... bringing Rodney King back to life on stage ...

Mt Zion Cemetery, plagued by vandals and neglect ... Jim Beckler, last journalist left from the pressbox the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier ... meet Bleached and their three favorite LA LP's ... How "Toilet to Tap" helped kill reforming LA's looming water shortage ... an undiscovered mosaic mural uncovered in Downtown LA.

We go to Dodger Stadium for Opening Day; to imaginary cities with Ben Katchor; to the Weimar Republic with singer Max Raabe; to the stage with Paul Dooley; and to a pet cemetery with Tess Vigeland.