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.)

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.