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.)

Silverlake's Loch Ness Monster?; Gary Owens Tells All; Mayor of Hollywood?; Gary Owen's Secret Power; Throat Singing, Inuit Style; Playing with the Kronos Quartet; Pow! Wham! and Sake!; A Tale of Two Ballparks; In Living Color; On Politics and Pruning; California Video; Freeway Flowers

My Teacher Alma; Dressing a Historic Landmark; The Chemosphere; Hammer Happening; The Ninth Old Man Rests In Peace; I Can Garden; The Soloist Hits the Shelves; Johnie's Broiler Rises Like a Phoenix; Tag This Wall; Sex on the Beach; Letters

The Voice of an Angel; On Set with the Late Charlton Heston; Song: Margerine Melodie by Stereolab; Bob Baker's Marionette Theater; Arboretum Welcomes Thumbs of all Colors; Angel Gets her Wings; Song: "Faithless" by Kieran McGee; Starving Poet No More; A Down-to-Earth Angel; Acres of Retail; Burmese Feast; Fore!

This Week on Off-Ramp; Underground Woman; Underground Woman - Part 2; Underground Woman - Part 3; What's Up Doc-san?; New Model for Health Care?; Hand over the money, please...; Fresh 'n' Easy; Crowd Pleaser; Roses and Lemon; The Fields Are Alive with Flowers; Letters

Star Shooter; Lilo and Stitch in It's a Small World?; Caspian Rain; Sold!; Benson, on Exposing Recluses; My Wife and the Cabana Boy; Zankou Chicken Murders; The Public Health Hero; The Coliseum sees Blue and Red; All You Gotta Do is Act Naturally; California Dems Weigh-In on the Presidential Elections

Love Stories; New Law Aims At School Shootings; Shot In the Heart; Creating Vintage Photos; Told You So; Newspaper Reunion; Sculpting Junk; Hollywood Star; The Iraq War Five Years In; John McCain Mix

Blinky the Friendly Hen; A Way With Words; Drought Crusade; Affirmative Action President; The Liberal Cabal; BBQ King R.I.P.; Watercress on the River; Xeriscape Dentist; Prison Parolees and Those Who Rehabilitate Them; The Gay Cheers; Mateo Stoneman Revisited

Sushi Zen; Sushi 101; Hot Ramen; I Eat Ramen, Here Me Roar!; Would You Eat Granny; Urban Survivalist; El Pollo Chino; Some botanas, por favor; Umami=Yummy; The Best Milkshake in Riverside; Too Fresh Fish; Sushi Delicacies; Your Own Sushi Chef; Sushi Wrap-Up