It was 2015. I was at a comic book store late one night and in strode Chris Nichols of LA Magazine. "John, Angelyne is outside and she'd give you a ride in the pink Corvette if you want." 

He had me at Angelyne, and the ride was awesome. 45 minutes later I had an audio portrait of one of the hardest working women in Hollywood who strives to live within her warm pink bubble. And later, when the Hollywood Reporter finally uncovered her backstory, it all made sense. As also told in the Peacock miniseries, Angelyne was fighting the dehumanizing legacy of the Holocaust in her family. 

This episode also features a fresh interview with LAist's Mike Roe about the miniseries, Angelyne's reaction to it, and our mutual admiration for a woman who remade herself and her life. 

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.)

(CONTENT ALERT: This piece includes frank discussion of abortion and clinical descriptions of abortion procedures.)

We're all processing the news that a draft ruling from the US Supreme Court supports overturning Roe v. Wade, which has protected a woman's right to an abortion in the US for almost 50 years. A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

On this bonus Off-Ramp episode, we meet Carol Downer, now 88. Before the 1973 Supreme Court decision, this Eagle Rock woman had made it her mission to take abortion from the back alley ... to the living room, by creating an underground network of unlicensed women who performed very early term home abortions. She wrote books on female anatomy, went to jail, and ran a women's health and abortion clinic in Hollywood which burned down in 1985.

After we hear Chris Greenspon's 2017 profile of Downer, we'll hear what Downer has to say about the latest bad news for Roe v. Wade.

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.)

Corita Kent, world's best-selling artist; Mary Jones, first trained librarian, ousted for a man: Charles Lummis; three women directors find their muse at the L.A. Film Festival.

Mary Jones, the city librarian you should know about; jellyfish get the spotlight at the Aquarium; showering with Sanden Totten;

Visit the youth homeless center that inspired Miley Cyrus's Happy Hippie Foundation ... The Cactus Store, the garden store for the drought-conscious ... Ride with Angelyne!

From knife-wielding performance artist to creator of our Happy Place - may Chris Burden RIP. Win a chance to ride with Angelyne. And why does the sun make you sneeze?

Luke Zamperini and Off-Ramp fly in the last B-24; Temple Grandin and an ABC journalist consider autism; we tour a homeless camp along the Arroyo Seco.

Matching anecdotal evidence with scientific proof of global warming ... Billy the Mime speaks ... Why walk 16 miles of Wilshire Blvd ... Brains On! ... Larry Mantle on The Big Fight

What do you call a 125-pound mountain lion? Anything he wants! Plus, we unmask @LosAngelesRain and visit a small perfume center in Koreatown.

Director of "1915" on growing up with the Armenian genocide as family history; Jane Lynch sings as a candle; Brains On!