LeVar Burton has been blessed with enough intelligence, curiosity, and talent to be a pop-culture triple threat. When most actors would be happy to have one iconic role, he's been Kunta Kinte in "Roots," Geordi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and the host of "Reading Rainbow." When we talked in 2012, we covered all that and a lot more ... like his favorite saint, and what it was like having Richard Burton as a father. (Kidding!)

And, since we're dropping this episode just before Juneteenth, we're including LeVar's readings of the Preamble to the US Constitution, plus the 13th and 15th Amendments.

(Note: Burton cites Bill Cosby's work in children's educational TV ... this interview was conducted two years before the allegations that would eventually lead to Cosby's prison sentence.)

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.)

Nowadays, Steven Cuevas is a classy public radio veteran. But back when Metallica was just starting to find fame, he was one of the sweaty kids who formed the band's first real fanbase. And when he wanted to tell the story on Off-Ramp in 2009, when Metallica was being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he got ahold of never-before-heard tape to take us back to those early days in San Francisco.

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.)

Our black widow spiders v. their brown widow spiders. Sex on the radio with Mimi Pond, author of Over Easy, graphic novel. An old friend shows another side of Ruben Salazar.

Celebrate the 50th birthday of the sexy, muscular Mustang; remember the mix-tape you made for your high school sweetheart; come to a rare Getty doubleheader; and look for Easter eggs in animated movies.

The marathoner whose life was saved by a photo at the 2013 Boston Marathon runs the race this year. Plus: Mike Kelley, Coachella, Heritage Square crash, and Friedkin's "Sorcerer."

Chapman University opens permanent Huell Howser exhibit; LA residents dealt with location shooting problems 100 years ago; Teaching adults to ride bikes.

Philippe Vergne and the MOCA challenge; John Hwang's loving portraits of his friends on Skid Row; a Modest Proposal to eliminate Scratchers litter; an actually new Frida Kahlo exhibit

A Disney artist uses a mattress to save a falling baby. When will Spotify, Pandora, and the rest start profiting songwriters? Female impressionists!

Unlikely mariachi Mateo Stoneman takes SxSW by storm in new documentary; city archives show fight against smog and backyard trash burning; hair Angels fight head lice.

A KISS arena football team is coming to SoCal. What was Cecil B. DeMille thinking when he made "Madam Satan?" Kristen Bell on the Ira Glass/"Veronica Mars" cameo.