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.)

Mateo Stoneman, White Mariachi; My Way on the Highway; Where Your Money Goes; Dumpster Diving For the Working Poor; Skid Row's Only Women's Shelter; Tree of Life; Words as Currency; Classical Music Forecast; Guacamole, Mon Amour; NPR Name Game; The Unsung Pelon; Giving's Only Natural; Soundtrack of Your Life; Letters

Off-Ramp wins LA Press Club's National Entertainment Journalism Award; City Government says: Waste Water; Prudent Planting; Immigration Affairs; Videos Galore; The Barbers at Legends; Let It Snow, Let It Snow; Life in the "Fast" Lane; Pasadena Newsstand Closes; Bratton on Britney; The Restaurant With No Sign; A San Francisco Dandy; My Story

Soundtrack of Your Life; Song Stories; Okies at the Getty; Sound of Los Angeles; Skid Row: Treating Diabetes; Bike On; Mix Tapes; Letters

BCAM Cometh; How Great The Art?; Bob Dylan at the Skirball; Marlene Dietrich sings "Blowin' In The Wind."; Firth In Our Hearts; Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Milton; Shabu Shabu; For Valentine's Day; Racism for Dummies; Commuters Looking For Community; Holocaust Museum Breaks Ground; Letters

Former Daily Show Correspondent on Super Tuesday; Fast Food Dude on the State of the Union; Buy America; How To Get Around Saving; In the Spin Room; Young American; McCain's New Theme Song; Rally Maverick; Latino Vote; Bill Can't Stop Thinking About Yesterday; Ch-Ch-Changes; D.I.Y. T.V.; Super Bowl Past; Doo Dah; JPL Marks 50th Anniversary of the First U.S. Mission Into Space

Doo Dah-Palooza; A (Deli)cious Tradition; Guacamole, Mon Amour; The Ineffable Off-Ramp Mysterions land at Doo-Dah; The Dresser's Dilemma; The Dresser's Answer; Too Hot!; Pop Star; Abundant Pharmacy; And We're Off!; Grand Theft Antiquities?; Tarzan of Tarzana

Father's Day; Stay at home dad; MYOB; Maila Nuri, Vamp Extraordinaire; It's a Wonderful Life in Encino; A Broad View of History; A Dream Partnership; Inside Huxley's World; No Frills B.B.Q.; Nothing, Honey.; Off-Ramp Exit Interview; Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Grade A Investigator; Grover Grades Restaurants; Gotcha!; Graciela Iturbide on La Fotografia; Identy Theft or Art?; Watching the L-Word Is Code for I'm Gay!; It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Ocean is Groaning; Green Streets; He Giveth and Taketh Away; Don't Burn the Beans!; Seven Spicy Seas