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.)

The LA-based Catherine Opie is one of the world's most famous working art photographers, and in 2011, she was given exclusive access to Elizabeth Taylor's home in Bel Air,, which she photographed before and after the star's death. Although she never met her, you feel from the photos that Opie knew Taylor intimately.

In 2017, when the photos were exhibited in the exhibit "700 Nimes Road," Off-Ramp host John Rabe spoke with her about the experience.  

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.)

Our black widow spiders v. their brown widow spiders. Sex on the radio with Mimi Pond, author of Over Easy, graphic novel. An old friend shows another side of Ruben Salazar.

Celebrate the 50th birthday of the sexy, muscular Mustang; remember the mix-tape you made for your high school sweetheart; come to a rare Getty doubleheader; and look for Easter eggs in animated movies.

The marathoner whose life was saved by a photo at the 2013 Boston Marathon runs the race this year. Plus: Mike Kelley, Coachella, Heritage Square crash, and Friedkin's "Sorcerer."

Chapman University opens permanent Huell Howser exhibit; LA residents dealt with location shooting problems 100 years ago; Teaching adults to ride bikes.

Philippe Vergne and the MOCA challenge; John Hwang's loving portraits of his friends on Skid Row; a Modest Proposal to eliminate Scratchers litter; an actually new Frida Kahlo exhibit

A Disney artist uses a mattress to save a falling baby. When will Spotify, Pandora, and the rest start profiting songwriters? Female impressionists!

Unlikely mariachi Mateo Stoneman takes SxSW by storm in new documentary; city archives show fight against smog and backyard trash burning; hair Angels fight head lice.

A KISS arena football team is coming to SoCal. What was Cecil B. DeMille thinking when he made "Madam Satan?" Kristen Bell on the Ira Glass/"Veronica Mars" cameo.