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.)

Special Off-Ramp Podcast - Interview with TCM's Ben Mankiewicz

The chips are fine -- it's the bag that's too noisy ... SoCal Noir with Marc Haefele ... CyberFrequencies on The Entryway ... Annual Roses & Lemon Award goes to AEG and ugly government buildings ...

EatLA on Gastropubs ... Dinner Party Download ... Photos by one of The Minutemen ... Larry Mantle interviewed by John Rabe ... The Voice of Bambi - Donnie Dunagan ... The Secret of Kells ... Poverty in Armenia.

A parable from Father Greg Boyle from his book, "Tattoos on the Heart."

Passover in the Desert ... CyberFrequencies talks with a woman who tried to scam the email scammers ... Marimbist Naoko Takada ... Anna Russell's twenty-minute Ring Cycle.

Jeff Mallett on Diagnosis: Triathlete ... Riding the Angels Flight once again ... Father Boyle's big idea: give gangstas an alternative besides jail ... Dinner Party Download makes you smarter, sweetens your breath ... and so much more.

CyberFrequencies talks to the woman who started a Debtors Revolt on YouTube... 1960s music icon Donovan sings and plays for Off-Ramp ... we send a real-life couple to the big travel expo to look for a honeymoon package ... Kevin Ferguson reports on female musicians' tributes bands dedicated to the music of male rock bands.

60s icon Donovan and his guitar in studio!