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.)

Does true love exist? Can you dig safely out a million pounds of dirt from under your house? Can you win a dinner party in 8 and a half minutes?

Hank Rosenfeld asks people, "What's the Richest You've Ever Been?" ... A Life of Crime - How the Scam Works ... EatLA: Happy Hours ... New Music Night at the Crawford Family Forum ... English Dracula v. Spanish Dracula ... the Car Culture and the SoCal Economy ... is the 14th District Council race about to go nuclear? ...

Wayne White's one man stage show ... Hard Times goes to South Central ... Dinner Party Download ... Vang Pao -- Arlington bound? ... Pluto's Assassin ... LA Phil and Dudamel go to Europe ...

Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi on "Quest for Fire," one of their most demanding films ... Vietnamese cuisine from North to South ... getting through Hard Times with Pasadena's Union Rescue Mission ... personal finance for kids ... mobile murals ... Mark Peel says, "Skip culinary school." ... Pacific Serenades marks 25th year of chamber music with piece by Army major ... This Old House in Silverlake

Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi tell Off-Ramp's John Rabe about their first movie: 1981's "Quest for Fire," a landmark film about human life on Earth 80,000 years ago.

Why did he dig a cavern under his house? ... Mac Davis: "And then I wrote..." ... Making Merguez with Farid Zadi ... Graham Moore, 28-year old author of "The Sherlockian" ... Dale Hoppert: "Leave the snow where it is!" ... Two OCMA artists who say "Touch my art!" ... Steve Lopez and the real lesson of the Arizona rampage ...

Graham Moore, a 28-year old Angeleno, on his debut novel, "The Sherlockian."

RH Greene celebrates iconic director Paul Mazursky ... Kevin Ferguson remembers Captain Beefheart ... Mark Peel says, "skip culinary school and work" and Dale Hoppert says, "put down that snow and step away from the vehicle" ... And Then I Wrote: Mac Davis sings "In The Ghetto," "Memories," and "A Little Less Conversation" ...