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.)

Rabe: It's (still) Cold Outside!; Animated Conversations; Drawing the Line; These Kids are Alright; And These Kids Aren't; Food for Thought; Go West Chef; Hammer Time; A Modern Collection; Low Merlot; Brad's Secret

Rabe: It's Cold Outside!; King in a Temple; Johnie's No More; A Little Night Music; Colombian Folk with a Twist; Eating in the City of Angels; Eating in 1984; No Big Deal; Apple Pared; Reporter's Roundtable

Off-Ramp Makes Friends and Influences People; Take a Hike; How Great Thou Art; Call Your Bookie; The emerging bank of America; Cheveux au natural; Beat It; Princess of Whales; So You're a Marine Biologist?; Rocky Un-Robed; Hit 'Em Where They Feel

Future City; Back to the Future; Mirror, Mirror; The Making of a Queen; Rose Rustler; Edward Scissorhands; New Art; Sana Sana; Resolutions; Call Sheet

A Christmas Carol Redux

Message from John Rabe This week we are doing a virtual broadcast from the Alhambra's Apocryphal Mall. (It's not on a map, hit "listen to entire program" to get there) Listen in as Off-Ramp regulars drop in to talk, share and scuffle! -John

Our Lady of the Ladle -- On DVD; Nunsense; Sweet Deal; The Making of "Sweet Land"; Eeny Meenie Mighty Mo; Menorah on a Mazda; OCMA Biennial; Reporter's Notebook; Mars Water Sponsor; A Public Good-Bye; Call Sheet; WEB EXTRA: Eye of the Tiger

It isn't easy being Green; Cello Fellow; Crime Buster; How Great Art Thou; Road to Hollywood; Blade II; Wining and Dining; Bozo The Bling-Bling Clown; Call Sheet; Reporter's Roundtable; WEB EXTRA: A Year-Round Winter Wonderland