©2025 Southern California Public Radio
Member-supported news for Southern California
Donate
Support for LAist comes from:
Become an LAist Sponsor
On February 29, this site will be merged with LAist.com. Read more
Off-Ramp
Hosted by John Rabe

Exploring Southern California with John Rabe

Ways to Subscribe
Episodes
  • Larry Davis: tears in his beer led to singing career - at 74!
    "My whole approach is to have a conversation with the listeners. The words have to mean something to me." 

    I first heard Larry sing c2010 at The Other Side, the long-closed piano bar in Silverlake. His voice is a little rough-edged, which grabs your attention, and he almost speaks many of the lyrics of his songs - whether it's "It Isn't Easy Being Green," "Lush Life," or one of the highly suggestive songs the crowd always loved to hear.

    Larry's past includes stints in the Air Force and at ABC-TV as a graphic designer, and his story proves F. Scott Fitzgerald was probably drunk when he said, "There are no second acts in American lives." Larry is on his third act ... at least.

    This piece originally aired in 2012; sit back and enjoy. And then go buy "Close Your Eyes," "Larry Davis Too," or any of his other albums on iTunes.

    Happy New Year!

    Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

  • A Christmas Carol ... the old time radio version, and some new takes on the Dickens classic
    Off-Ramp's Chistmas present to you is our annual holiday special, A Christmas Carol Redux, which combines the old time radio version - starring Lionel Barrymore - with new versions of the perennial holiday production. Enjoy!

    Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Load More
Support Off-Ramp today
LAist Studios relies on listener support to power the podcasts you love.
  • Originally just 20-acres, the LA National Cemetery opened as one of 11 facilities operated by the Veterans Administration on lands shared with national veterans' homes or asylums for disabled soldiers. It was dedicated in 1889, and through the years has expanded to more than 100 acres. Those interred there are war veterans from the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, and other American conflicts.
    We Remember and Pay Tribute - Off-Ramp 5-28-11
    An Off-Ramp Memorial Day Special ... the youngest man on the list remembers Oskar Schindler ... Louis Zamperini, torpedoed, remembers life on a raft in the Pacific and in a Japanese POW camp ... Kevin Ferguson's Grandma and the USS Indianapolis ... an Iraqi vet remembers ... stories from Vietnam War correspondents and photojournalists ... helping grieving Marine families cut through the red tape ...
  • Highland Park was chosen by Redfin as the top "up-and-coming" neighborhood in the US.
    Bright Lights, Big City - Off-Ramp for May 21, 2011
    EatLA talks perfect pizza and LA's best Chinese food ... Highland Park reactivates a neighborhood treasure ... Hard Times ...
  • Gustaf Tenggren concept painting painting from Pinocchio. (Walt Disney, 1940.) Accomplished in ink, charcoal and tempera on two conjoined leaves of 12 ½ in. x 16 ½ in. animation paper; overall length is 33 in. with an image size approx. 12 in. x 28 in.
    My Car's Arteries Got Clogged! Off-Ramp 5/14/2011
    John Rabe's veg oil diary ... Charles Solomon on the pros and cons of animation art auctions ... beer tasting for women ... Frank McCourt's secret plan backfires ... Madeleine Brand can't break up with her car, but she kinda wants to ... Tess Vigeland of Marketplace Money tals carbuying strategies ...
  • Newton Minow, in his office in Chicago. March, 2011.
    Special: Newton Minow's "Vast Wasteland" Speech Turns 50 - Off-Ramp 5/9/11
    In-depth Off-Ramp interview with Newton Minow, 85, on his "Vast Wasteland" speech of May 9, 1961. It shook up the television industry and is considered one of the most important speeches of the 20th century. Many of its criticisms are true of television today. Off-Ramp host John Rabe also talks with broadcast historian Robert Thompson, and actor Don Murray, who took a role in episodic TV because of the speech. He says TV was a "vast wasteland" for actors, too.
  • A suburban home, c. 1950., and the focal point of the livingroom.
    Newton Minow's Vast Wasteland Turns 50 -- Off-Ramp 5-7-11
    Newton Minow on his "Vast Wasteland" speech ... 10 years of movies in a spooky setting ... Re-Animator: the musical ... inside JPL ... America's new most wanted terrorist a So Cal native?
  • Lewis MacAdams of the Friends of the LA River and KPCC's Brian Watt survey some of the garbage in the bed of the LA River. Most of it comes storming through the stormdrains during the rainy season, and catches in the flora.
    The Loveliest Storm Drain in the World - Off-Ramp 4-30-2011
    Cleaning up the LA River ... RIP Eldon Davis, the father of Googie ... SPARKING kids' futures ... 36th Congressional race forum ...
  • October 14, 1959: King-size scissors used to cut ribbon for Technology Instrument Corp. plant in Rancho Conejo Light manufacturing Research Center, Thousand Oaks.
    Don't Run With Scissors! Off-Ramp - 4-23-2011
    LA County's ribbon-cutting scissors ... Dinner Party Download ... May Day rallies and Coming Out as illegal ... new folk rock singalong songs ... EatLA talks with Susan Feniger of Street Restaurant ...
  • "If you have tears to shed, prepare to shed them now" says Albert Rossi as he attacks an onion at Lincoln Heights jail kitchen. Photo dated: July 20, 1929.
    From Passover to Potholes - Off-Ramp 4-16-11
    Sanden Totten meets the mother of all potholes ... John Frame explains his new Huntington exhibit ... Nick Waterhouse's music ... Dinner Party Download ... Gary Leonard turns 60 with a big sale ... Passover in the Desert ...
Load More