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)

LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow, Roots, and Next Gen ... Matt Groening on Huell Howser's retirement ... Gordon and the spider ...

Huell retired after 20 years of California's Gold ... Countercultural Paul Krassner remembers getting stoned with Groucho, John, and Yoko; celebrating the dean of radio DJs, Art LaBoe, 87; another Instagram winner!

1914: 28 men set off to cross Antarctica and wind up with an even greater accomplishment by failing in their original mission.

Time machines: "Classic Dining: Discovering America’s Finest Mid-Century Restaurants;" the 25th anniversary of "Star Trek: The Next Generation;" and the frozen wing of the Alexandria Hotel, locked in space and time since 1938.

Richard Simmons is still sweating to the oldies. Carole Bayer Sager on her second act. Suicide by train. Facing death with dignity.

How LAX killed Surfridge ... Painter Phil Stein, Siqueiros assistant & friend ... Laurie Rubin dreams & sings in color ... commentators Brody & Rosenfeld ... Tattoo U?

Martians invade the US, terrorize, murder, and destroy! The complete 1938 "War of the Worlds" from Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre on the Air.

Amateur unearths US President Franklin Marshall ... the Green Book guided black motorists ... Yanow and Beer ... Instagram contest ... the love of K-Pop.