For the first Off-Ramp podcast episode, let's go back to that amazing day in 2013 when my friend Chris sent me a message:

"Hey, John. My sister and her husband just bought a home in the Valley with a fallout shelter that hasn't been touched in decades. Wanna do an Off-Ramp piece about it?" 

Would I? Should you wear a sport coat to Musso & Frank? Are horizontal fence slats getting old? Are you legally required to take visiting relatives to The Huntington? Yes!

The piece you're about to listen to was probably the most popular one we ever did, in no small part due to the great photos by Mae Ryan. 

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.)

Welcome from host John Rabe, a public radio veteran and bon vivant who turned exploring Southern California into a radio art form on KPCC's Off-Ramp. Now, he's sharing stories from the Off-Ramp archive - in a lead-lined vault deep beneath Mt Wilson - with you!

Check your feed every Friday, then sit back, listen, enjoy ... and then get out and make your own SoCal adventures!

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)

Mike Gatto's Parking Bill of Rights ... Piano Bar 101 teaches a lost art ... Ballpark groundskeepers of the world, unite! ... Brains On, the science podcast for kids ...

5 Every Week says check out Art Los Angeles Contemporary at Santa Monica's Barker Hangar, a "knock-down, drag-out battle of art commerce" ... the Oscar noms ARE diverse, in the animation categories ... remembering Glenn Frey and Hotel California.

Remembering one of David Bowie's weirdest performances ... CalTech's snowflake expert ... Piano Bar 101 ... 2 bad and 2 good reasons to become a marine biologist ... 5 Every Week gets your butt off the couch

A look back at Jim Jones' history in Los Angeles, the sad, smelly fate of Rose Parade floats, 5 Every week and more!

Patt Morrison's 75th birthday wishes for the Arroyo Parkway ... 5 Every Week preps you for movie awards season ... Brains On, the science podcast for kids, interviews NBC-4's Fritz Coleman about weather forecasting ... the failed African-American film response to Birth of a Nation ...

Off-Ramp is on Christmas vacation and won't be airing December 26 and 27. See you in the New Year!

Meet a non-denominational exorcist who works out of a guest house in Van Nuys ... 5 Every Week gets you off the couch and on the streets ... climate change and creatures in the Mojave ... Brains On tells us how the salamander grows back limbs, and home come we can't?

One of Philip K. Dick's editors - Marc Haefele - reviews Amazon's "The Man in the High Castle;" the Triforium in downtown LA gets new life; how to be a good gentile at a Hanukkah celebration; listeners try out the LAPD's shooting simulator; 5 Every Week helps you be social and smart.