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.)

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