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)

Vincent Price: actor, art collector, and gourmet! ... We talk with Angelenos on the 20th anniversary of the OJ verdict ... We meet a photographer who specializes in getting complete strangers to pose intimately ... A new kilt store. Yes, a kilt store. ... Brains On examines the fart.

Kareem co-writes "Mycroft Holmes" to tell Sherlock's brother's backstory; the norteño band Los Tigres del Norte comes to town; Industrial Musicals; 2,000 year old bronzes of people you know and love; LA's scandalous nuclear cover-up.

Surkus plants pretty party people for perfect PR. Does The Broad museum on Grand Avenue match expectations? The music of Quitapenas. Brains On - the science podcast for kids. Making a living paying tribute to The Bob Dylan of Mexico.

George Takei tells us how his internment camp musical "Allegiance" got to Broadway. How to plant the right milkweed and help monarch butterflies. Suzanne Lummis on good and bad poetry. New doc "Being Canadian" looks at ... well, you know.

How gays and lesbians turned to science fiction to explore themes banned on Earth; Dam Funk calls for increased fantasy; remembering artist Noah Davis and the SoCal years of Oliver Sacks

Got any ideas to boost turnout so the 2017 L.A. city election isn't a snooze? We celebrate Shotgun Tom Kelly, who isn't shy but is retiring. Saving Salvation Mountain.

Kristen Lepore thought she had picnic game until she went to the Hollywood Bowl ... Kevin Ferguson explores the world of actors who pretend to be patients to train doctors ... Brains On! explains why your house cat puts up with you.

Sharon McNary takes us pothole watching; Collin Friesen locks us in a room; Salma Hayek backs The Prophet.