Over the years Off-Ramp was on the air, LA City Archivist Michael Holland researched, wrote, and narrated many pieces for the show that used the city archive to illuminate aspects of the city's history most people have forgotten or don't know in the first place ... like Mayor Fletcher Bowron's active campaign against Japanese-Americans during World War Two. Bowron, who lived from 1887-1968 and was mayor from 1938-1953, used radio to drive his point home, and the transcripts of his speeches aren't pretty.

This time, we'll hear Holland's piece from 2017, and from the same year, George Takei telling us what happened to his family when FDR signed his infamous Executive Order 9066.

Note: "Internment" was, of course, a euphemism, so politicians and others didn't have to say they were putting innocent people in prison. Our policy at KPCC is to call it "incarceration." 

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.)

(This is the second part of a two-part episode.)

This time, we mark the 30th anniversary of one of the darkest days in LA history: Friday, April 29, 1992, when the all-white Simi Valley jury found 4 LAPD officers not guilty in the beating of Rodney King. Rage, protests, and violence, broke out across the city and lasted for days.

Five years ago on Off-Ramp, we marked the 25th anniversary with a full hour of interviews, archival footage, and an unflinching reckoning of the LAPD and its legacy of violence. We wound up with an interview with the late Rodney King.

That's what we're going to listen back to on this episode, but please remember that a lot has changed in five years, and one of them is that as a newsroom - like a lot of other newsrooms around the country - we at KPCC and LAist no longer use the phrase LA Riots.

While riotis used historically, we cannot ignore the media's role in popularizing a term that is now often used as a dog whistle for race. Words like response, unrest, or uprising encourage our audiences to think deeper about its origins.

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.)

Riding the Expo line from Downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean ... Meet Mack Robinson, Jesse's brother ... Milton Love does not love books like Hooty the Owl Who Couldn’t Fly or Gretchen the Bed Bug with an Attitude ... Bob Boilen and the songs that changed our lives

Californium, the new PK Dick video game ... bid for a unique dinner with Russ Parsons, John Rabe, and Piero Selvaggio at Valentino in Santa Monica ... the almost-lost living room sessions of jazz pianist Forrest Westbrook ... how to make money in Hollywood AND not be a racist.

The Parks Service needs your help to figure out how urban coyotes survive ... remembering the infamous Atomic Cafe ... the existential angst of Laurel & Hardy, restored and remembered ... Can Pershing Square be made into a beautiful park?

The view from the 69th floor of the Wilshire Grand ... Brains On, the science podcast for kids ... our first look inside the Highand Park Bowl ... the Norton Simon summons up a triumph from the 1960s ...

California Science Center is getting the big orange external tank to go with Shuttle Endeavour ... Guitar hero Albert Lee on the skiffle and early rock scene in Britain ... LACMA opens exhibit on 300 years of men's fashion ...

Vin Scully on the roar of the crowd as fountain of youth ... Orel Hershiser on pitcher's nerves ... No, most of us still can't watch the Dodgers on TV ... Rabe eats a Dodger dog: still meh ... Plus: Brendon Eder and Milton Avery.

It was 80 years ago that Jackie Robinson went to John Muir High School in Pasadena. He played shortstop and catcher on the baseball team. But flash forward to today: what about the team he played on, and the school he went to? Take a leap into a Los Angeles of the future it's unlikely any city will have changed more than Inglewood, future home to the new NFL stadium. We take a look around and talk with Inglewood movers and shakers. And we go inside the Eames House, one of Los Angeles' most important, most beautiful and elusive homes.

We bring you Off-Ramp greatest (recent) hits: Actor George Takei reflects on the 10th anniversary of his coming out. We dig through the cookbook authored by the late Vincent Price—frightening star of stage and screen. And if you love John William's iconic Star Wars score, New Yorker Music Critic Alex Ross says it's not just nostalgia: there's a serious, brilliant mind at work.