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)

New GM Farhan Zaidi, Dodgers Stadium's arborist, Roz Wyman brings Dodgers to LA, the "ball hawk" saga continues, Nancy B strikes a chord, and much more.

Batters and Stanton, plain brown envelope artists; Abe Lincoln and California; Grandma Nazimova had a trunk, and inside ...; Bogart's son on Film Noir

Kevin Ferguson talks about the hot new app game 'Survive Mola mola!' with Molly Peterson and Milton Love; John talks with Assemblyman Gatto about avoiding the horrors of probate.

We go to Bakersfield to sample a few gems in a city with a bad rap; Jim Tully, "the most hated man in Hollywood;" Brains On and living with a volcano.

James Franco's collaborative USC film class winds up with real movies ... a jazz pianist who uses sci-fi movies to inspire music about Mars ... Damian Kevitt runs the LA Marathon.

14yo Destiny Rodriguez co-hosts Brains On! Patt Morrison interviews Broadway icon Patricia Morison. We uncover the true facts behind the Rose Hills cemetery's neon sign.

Icons! John meets and rides through Hollywood with Angelyne, and Kevin interviews former Minuteman bassist Mike Watt, who'll be on the punk Mt Rushmore.

Thousands of supposedly lowbrow Angelenos lined up for hours last weekend to get inside a new architectural marvel and an old icon: The Broad museum and Hollyhock House.