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.)

Joan Baez: Fifty Years of Folk; There's Gold in These Hills!; John Nabs Scam Artist!; Gold Fever; This Great Undemocracy; Meet the "Mayor of Nugget Alley"; Miki Dora, Rebel Surfer; They Animated Us; Drew Street Demolition; Music on Off-Ramp: "There's a Goldmine in the Sky"

We've Been Recognized; StoryCorps Comes to LA; Nathaniel Ayers Update; Control the Cars!; Guitar Hero; A Modest Proposal; Happy Chinese New Year; What's in an Ox?; Remembering Nils Asther; Animal Show or Performance Art?; New Gang Plan for Gangland; Coachella Complaining; Line Drives and Lipstick; Barbershop Quartets descend on Pasadena

The World Was In Color; William Shatner, the Listener; Gustavo Takes the Baton; Brace for Unemployment; Obama Vendors; Millions at the Mall; Korean BBQ Tacos?!; Tracking the Heroin Trade; Making History at the Mall; The Man Behind MoLAA; Song for Night; On the Righteous Path; Watching the L-Word is Code for I'm Gay!; The Obama Quest For A Puppy!

Busted?; Graffiti Artist or Vandal?; Graffiti Removal; Malibu Heroes; Living with your Mother-In-Law; Tuskegee Airmen celebrate Obama; Good-Bye LA; Famed Songwriter Lamont Dozier; Chip Off the Old Block; MOCA Update; Off-Ramp Music Recommendations

Bluesman John Bigham; The Ashes of Oakridge; Counting Crime; Why "Bail Out" a Healthy Bank?; A Christmas Catastrophe; Growing Up Ahmed; A Music Odyssey; Don't Call Them Hell's Angels; David Fincher on Dinner Party Download; The Play's a Thing

Meet Angel Joy Blue; A Tribute to Theme Songs; He's Alive; A Down-to-Earth Angel; Jazzing up the Classics; It's A Good Day to Be a Songwriter in L.A.; Angel Gets her Wings; Mock Me Gently; Queen of Disco in LA

A Christmas Carol Redux

LA Goes Live; Clarence McDonald: Follow My Lead; The Schlepometer, Explained; Living the High Life; 21st Amendment Rights; Hey, Cabbie!; They Built It. Will We Come?; Crunchy or Smooth?; Cafe Tacuba; Coldplay Stole My Song!; He's THE Fox