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Off-Ramp
Hosted by John Rabe

Exploring Southern California with John Rabe

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Episodes
  • dublab's Mark "Frosty" McNeill helps us relive the glory years of The Atomic Cafe, Little Tokyo's loud, greasy, sticky, punk Mecca
    Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" goes "they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot." Well ... what if they tore down a cool place to ... improve public transit? (Insert sound effects of a Progressive's head exploding here.)

    Anyway, that's what happened. The Atomic Cafe, at 422 East First Street in Little Tokyo, was a famous punk gathering spot. It closed in 1989 and the building was demolished in 2015 to make way for the subway's Regional Connector.

    But luckily for Off-Ramp listeners, dublab's Mark "Frosty" McNeill created an audio love letter to The Atomic Cafe that debuted on Off-Ramp in 2016.

    And when I wrote to let Mark know, he wrote back:

    The timing of the podcast episode is perfect. We're actually having a free, all ages event on Saturday, May 7th 4-8pm at Union Station to celebrate the Deep Routes radio series I've been producing with Metro Arts. 

    You don't need to RSVP, just put it on your calendar now, and show up on the 7th in your hightops, ripped skinny jeans, and Union Jack t-shirt. 

    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.

    This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

    (Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

  • True Crime! Murder! Scandal! In 1922, an L.A. woman kept her lover in the attic ... and her husband in the dark
    This story is weird even by today's standards. It starts in Milwaukee, where Dolly Oesterreich secretly kept her teen lover Otto in the attic of the house she shared with her husband Fred. When Dolly and Fred moved to L.A., Otto moved, too; and was reinstalled in the attic of the Oesterreich's house in Silver Lake.

    Everything was fine until one night in 1922, and for the rest of the story, we turn to Robert Petersen, host of the podcast The Hidden History of Los Angeles.  

    But wait, there's more ... I've updated this story with a new interview that may creep you out as much as the original version, which was broadcast on 1/29/2017.

    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.

    This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

    (Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

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  • 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 ...
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