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)

Does true love exist? Can you dig safely out a million pounds of dirt from under your house? Can you win a dinner party in 8 and a half minutes?

Hank Rosenfeld asks people, "What's the Richest You've Ever Been?" ... A Life of Crime - How the Scam Works ... EatLA: Happy Hours ... New Music Night at the Crawford Family Forum ... English Dracula v. Spanish Dracula ... the Car Culture and the SoCal Economy ... is the 14th District Council race about to go nuclear? ...

Wayne White's one man stage show ... Hard Times goes to South Central ... Dinner Party Download ... Vang Pao -- Arlington bound? ... Pluto's Assassin ... LA Phil and Dudamel go to Europe ...

Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi on "Quest for Fire," one of their most demanding films ... Vietnamese cuisine from North to South ... getting through Hard Times with Pasadena's Union Rescue Mission ... personal finance for kids ... mobile murals ... Mark Peel says, "Skip culinary school." ... Pacific Serenades marks 25th year of chamber music with piece by Army major ... This Old House in Silverlake

Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi tell Off-Ramp's John Rabe about their first movie: 1981's "Quest for Fire," a landmark film about human life on Earth 80,000 years ago.

Why did he dig a cavern under his house? ... Mac Davis: "And then I wrote..." ... Making Merguez with Farid Zadi ... Graham Moore, 28-year old author of "The Sherlockian" ... Dale Hoppert: "Leave the snow where it is!" ... Two OCMA artists who say "Touch my art!" ... Steve Lopez and the real lesson of the Arizona rampage ...

Graham Moore, a 28-year old Angeleno, on his debut novel, "The Sherlockian."

RH Greene celebrates iconic director Paul Mazursky ... Kevin Ferguson remembers Captain Beefheart ... Mark Peel says, "skip culinary school and work" and Dale Hoppert says, "put down that snow and step away from the vehicle" ... And Then I Wrote: Mac Davis sings "In The Ghetto," "Memories," and "A Little Less Conversation" ...