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.)

Return to DooDah ... Dandelion Wine Rewound ... Garden Envy

Julius Shulman RIP ... Biking to Tennessee ... Take the TemperaTour ... Father Boyle on Homeboy Industries ... CyberFrequencies on Kindergarten bloggers

CyberFrequencies on Palin enemies list ... Wayne White, artist, banjoist, new Oldham book ... last silent movie organist dies ... living Chicano rock history ... Dinner Party Download on Ali

Malden, RIP ... Medical Pot via Twitter ... Razorcake Lives ... Virtual AnimeExpo ... Bratton Changes Cop-Godzilla Paradigm

Boxer Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola speaks ... How the Hammer Museum will spend $1,000,000 ... Garrison Keillor reads a love sonnet.

Garrison Keillor on Jesse Ventura ... OCMA's picture problems ... another episode of Cyber Frequencies ... Chris Ames takes on Santa Ana.

The documentary "The Ashes of Oakridge" takes us to a mobile home park in Sylmar devastated by wildfires.

What happens to comics and crosswords if newspapers die? Plus, billboard art, Eric Garcetti's first career, Norwegian datarock, the new waltzmeister, and a woodworking icon remembered. Enjoy!