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.)

Alex Cohen and "Crazy Heart's" composer ... EatLA's 2010 guide to the best food in the county ... The Secret of Kells gets one more showing ... Dinner Party Download ... Mark Lacter's homebuying advice ... Queena Kim talks with author Reyna Grande about her new book, "Dancing with Butterflies"

Off-Ramp ushers in 2010 with a (historical) tour of LA's Sewers ... Marc Haefele offers a "culinary" solution to our invasive species problem ... William Shatner dishes on his talk show "Shatner's Raw Nerve" ... up and coming painter Camille Rose Garcia finds whimsy in the macabre ... Cyberfrequencies takes us to a beatboxing contest--on the web.

CyberFrequencies on Life on the Web ... Clint Eastwood on his Life in Movies ... Jackson Musker on insurance woes for Oakridge victims ... Leonard Maltin tells the backstory for his movie guide ... the man behind "Sleighride," Leroy Anderson.

New takes on Dickens' classic ... plus the original Lionel Barrymore radio broadcast of "A Christmas Carol."

Queena Kim meets Ricky Jay ... Martin Eisenstadt talks back ... Mateo Stoneman's secret: "I learned to be a mariachi in prison!" ... Dinner Party Download makes you smarter, AND more intelligent ... Andy Rooney STILL hates Christmas ... Early peek at Downey and Law in "Sherlock Holmes."

Mateo Stoneman's secret ... The mother of all LA photo books ... Metallica as I knew them, by Steven Cuevas ... trying to Vanish in America ... Brian Watt controls air traffic, kinda of ... CyberFrequencies and the Rosetta Project.

Off-Ramp's Thanksgiving tradition: "Walking Out of History," the true story of Shackleton's miraculous "Endurance" expedition of 1914.

Mary Poppins descends on LA ... CyberFrequencies recommends a daily dose of video games ... MOCA's permanent collection ... Musical Books? ... Pigtails&Sauerkraut and other Thanksgiving traditions.