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.)

Karaoke meet your maker: We visit the Classic Rock Singalong, where everyone gets to belt out songs while a live band backs them up.

He's a New KPCC Member; Dinner Party Download: Where Anatomy meets Astronomy; Date Shake Quest: Part 1; Gary Owens Tells All; Date Shake Quest: Part 2; Caspian Rain; Date Shake Quest: Part 3; She Drew the Line; Racy Dates?; A Music Odyssey; Gary Owens' Secret Power

Why Contribute to KPCC?; He's Alive; The Ashes of Oakridge; Hard Times Hit Home; Skunk Be Gone; Food Banks in Need; Food for All; They Produce

The Eyes of the City; Tomato Tips; Thanks for the Monsters; Festival of Whales; Forrest's Friends; Mr. Indie, Michel Gondry; Mahavishnu John McLaughlin; Bamboodles; Hard Times Hit the Port; Hop on the Soul Food Express

Tomato Time; QUAKE CITY: A Sensitive Subject; Trailer Tales; The Miracle Cleaner; QUAKE CITY: Prediction Impossible; Porn Again?; Take a Pilgrimage in L.A.; QUAKE CITY: Native Mythology; Pierogi Paradise; Special Agent Man; Storycorps: Friends, Lovers, Parents; Jerry Stahl on Love Without; The Ashes of Oakridge

Dinner is Served!; The Ashes of Oakridge; Sushi Zen; Sushi 101; I Eat Ramen, Here Me Roar!; Would You Eat Granny?; Urban Survivalist; El Pollo Chino; Seven Spicy Seas; No Frills B.B.Q.; Umami=Yummy; The Best Milkshake in Riverside; Too Fresh Fish; Sushi Delicacies; Your Own Sushi Chef

Ashes of Oakridge; We've Been Recognized

StoryCorps: In Sickness and Health; Cherryholmes: Live in-Studio; Next Week: The Ashes of Oakridge; The Man Behind StoryCorps; Sparks Will Fly; Sparks Will Fly; Happy Birthday, Lincoln Imposter!; Snowdays in SoCal; Harold and Belle's Authentic Creole; For Every Lover, a Schlepometer; Bluesman John Bigham; Animation Nation