It all happens in John's car: Tom Petty's keyboardist, Benmont Tench and his Casio get in the back seat to play a very Off-Rampy song ... Queena Kim conducts a creativity masterclass ... Food writer Russ Parsons brings pie ... Charles Phoenix & Chris Nichols on the joys of getting lost in SoCal ... And Mayor Garcetti challenges John to a backgammon game. (PHOTO: On old off-ramp from the Arroyo Seco Parkway. Credit: John Rabe)

On the second to last episode: an expert on relics, mummies, crypts, and the way we live with death ... KPCC's Matt Bloom looks at the fungal disease killing LA's ficus trees ... The amazing career of Ruth Batchelor: founder of the LA Film Critics Association and songwriter for Elvis ... Lou Adler on the 50th anniversary the Monterey Pop Music Festival ... And Off-Ramp's last producer remembers the first time ever he heard our show. (Image: John Rabe)

Saturday at noon, a special live, 2-hour broadcast, as we march with Endeavour -- and hundreds of thousands of Angelinos -- from LAX to the California Science Center.

EatLA tastes olive oil, tells obsessive foodies to chill, and discovers why canned beer is better than bottled beer; Dylan Brody remembers the charms of Schuylerville NY; San Antonio Winery turns 95; look out for Frank Stoltze at your local restaurant - he wants to talk politics with you.

A TNG extravaganza for the ground-up restoration, now on Blu-Ray ... My Imported Bride, Part Two ... The man who invented "Gaytino." Brian has Mice.

Hunter Davis and his preternatural Ian McKellen impression; Masami Teraoka on almost 50 years of boundary-stretching art; Happy Birthday Rocky, Natasha, and Witch Hazel (June Foray); Pat Metheny on tenor sax; and probably one or two other things you wouldn't expect on a public radio show.

Smokey Robinson for Poet Laurate! Larry Davis, working on his second album at 74. Carlos Almaraz, influential Chicano artist, remembered at Vincent Price Art Gallery.

Wayne White gets a documentary; Jerry Gorin reports on the history of Pasadena's Doo Dah Parade and meets Roxette; the late Hal David sings his own hits, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head;" "The People's Guide to Los Angeles;" Bienvenu! the Super Scooper arrives in LA (from Quebec) in time for wildfire season;

This week on Off-Ramp, we revisit some of our favorite moments from this year: A homeless advocate finds a way to give back to the very community he took from. What do you do after you've been robbed? (Become a superhero.) And John Rabe calls Betty White a grandma.

This week on Off-Ramp, named best public affairs program by the LA Press Club: Will lowering the speed limit on the 110 between downtown and Pasadena automatically make it safer? What happens when 71 artists fill a sketchbook? (They help build 4 libraries.) And one of the greatest music festivals you've never heard of, Wattstax, which happened 40 years ago.