It's a three-fer this week!

First, in the summer of 1970, you couldn't pass through the un-airconditioned parts of Los Angeles without hearing radios blaring "Viva Tirado," the groundbreaking hit from El Chicano ... an East LA band who were the first Latino group to play The Apollo. We get the story from band member Bobby Espinoza. 

Then, as KPCC's Adolfo Guzman Lopez works on his new podcast, The Forgotten Revolutionary - the new season of Imperfect Paradise from LAist Studios - we listen back to an early instance of Adolfo talking about his background on KPCC ... the occasion being the time he was name-checked on "The Simpsons." 

And finally, we listen to the trailer for The Forgotten Revolutionary, which is about Oscar Gomez, a tragic star of the Chicano rights movement, whose radio show used "Viva Tirado" as its theme song. It's also about Adolfo's history as an activist, which he is revealing for the first time as he explores what happened to Gomez.

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.)

With Governor Newsom contemplating mandatory water restrictions - because we are actually using MORE water this year, despite his warnings - it seems like a good time to bring back the time Sanden Totten, now the host of Brains On, took a timed Navy shower back in 2015 ... on the radio.

The Navy shower is a strategy for getting clean when you're on a boat with limited freshwater, and lots of sweaty seafarers in line behind you. (People in the Navy apparently call landlubber showers "Hollywood showers.")

In this episode, Sanden also chats with an astronaut about how they use and reuse water in space. And drink what used to be pee. You have been warned.

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.)

An Off-Ramp Memorial Day Special ... the youngest man on the list remembers Oskar Schindler ... Louis Zamperini, torpedoed, remembers life on a raft in the Pacific and in a Japanese POW camp ... Kevin Ferguson's Grandma and the USS Indianapolis ... an Iraqi vet remembers ... stories from Vietnam War correspondents and photojournalists ... helping grieving Marine families cut through the red tape ...

EatLA talks perfect pizza and LA's best Chinese food ... Highland Park reactivates a neighborhood treasure ... Hard Times ...

John Rabe's veg oil diary ... Charles Solomon on the pros and cons of animation art auctions ... beer tasting for women ... Frank McCourt's secret plan backfires ... Madeleine Brand can't break up with her car, but she kinda wants to ... Tess Vigeland of Marketplace Money tals carbuying strategies ...

In-depth Off-Ramp interview with Newton Minow, 85, on his "Vast Wasteland" speech of May 9, 1961. It shook up the television industry and is considered one of the most important speeches of the 20th century. Many of its criticisms are true of television today. Off-Ramp host John Rabe also talks with broadcast historian Robert Thompson, and actor Don Murray, who took a role in episodic TV because of the speech. He says TV was a "vast wasteland" for actors, too.

Newton Minow on his "Vast Wasteland" speech ... 10 years of movies in a spooky setting ... Re-Animator: the musical ... inside JPL ... America's new most wanted terrorist a So Cal native?

Cleaning up the LA River ... RIP Eldon Davis, the father of Googie ... SPARKING kids' futures ... 36th Congressional race forum ...

LA County's ribbon-cutting scissors ... Dinner Party Download ... May Day rallies and Coming Out as illegal ... new folk rock singalong songs ... EatLA talks with Susan Feniger of Street Restaurant ...

Sanden Totten meets the mother of all potholes ... John Frame explains his new Huntington exhibit ... Nick Waterhouse's music ... Dinner Party Download ... Gary Leonard turns 60 with a big sale ... Passover in the Desert ...