Member-supported news for Southern California
Support for LAist comes from:
On February 29, this site will be merged with LAist.com. Read more
Off-Ramp

Exploring Southern California with John Rabe

Ways to Subscribe
Episodes
  • Happy 100th Maila Nurmi. Listen to a full-length radio documentary celebrating one of the most remarkable women in TV -- "Vampira"
    In 1954, Maila Nurmi shocked the world as sexy horror host Vampira on KABC. She rocketed to national, then worldwide stardom, then quickly faded ... although her character was a clear blueprint, much later, for Cassandra Peterson's "Elvira" character on TV and in the movies. Nurmi died in 2008.

    In 2010 Off-Ramp contributor R.H. Greene, who became friends with Nurmi in her later years, told her story for Off-Ramp in a documentary called "Vampira and Me." (The radio doc became a film in 2012.)

    Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

  • David Dean Bottrell is a charming warning to little kids: Don't be greedy little Christmas pigs!
    "I would run my sticky fingers across images that seemed to be beamed from some magical, alternative universe where people gave dinner parties and owned patio furniture." -- David Dean Bottrell's "Crafty Little Christmas" 

    Every year, I'd put my name next to twenty toys in the JC Penny and Sears Christmas catalogs, and guess what ... every year I wouldn't get everything I wanted. And every years I was sorely disappointed. Big surprise. It took a long time before I woke up,  changed my ways, and discovered a lot more happiness on Christmas. 

    The Christmas catalog played a slightly different role for actor/writer/teacher/Kentuckian/homosexual David Dean Bottrell, and this week, we're setting the proper mood for the season -- don't be greedy! -- by listening to his story "A Crafty Little Christmas," which he performed for "Once Upon a Christmas" in 2012. (We first broadcast it on Off-Ramp in 2013.)

    Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

    Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Support Off-Ramp today
LAist Studios relies on listener support to power the podcasts you love.
  • Clint Eastwood Exclusive!; Eastwood on Directing; Eastwood on the Magic of Music; The Inner Life of Miranda July; The Big Cheese in Food; Trailblazing in The 'Bu; Skunk Be Gone; Invasive Recipes; A June Wedding; The Rock Fish Files; Music on Off-Ramp - Priscilla Ahn's "I Don't Think So"
  • Stay-At-Home Dad; MYOB; Dad's in Jail; Dad's in Jail - Part II; It's A Good Day to Be a Songwriter in L.A.; Retro Surf Photos; Alice in Puppetland; Father's Day Traditions; Decoding the Graduation Garb
  • This week we hit some of Southern California's most historic sites: Rancho Los Alamitos in Long Beach, Los Encinos State Historic Park, and the Palomares Adobe in Pomona (pictured).
  • The Voice of an Angel; Angel Gets her Wings; My Teacher Alma; Singin' on the Bus; Mateo Stoneman, White Mariachi; Mid-Century Chimes; From Face Paint To Real Paint; Throat Singing, Inuit Style; Art Tatum Rises...Again
  • Garrison Keilor Loves LA; Song: "California" by Joni Mitchell; A Way With Words; Song: "You and Onions" (Hidden Track) by Meiko; Straight Story; Creating Vintage Photos; Something Fishy; Song: "Frank's Wild Years" by Tom Waits; Bunker Hill Revisited; Sad Life, Great Writer; Tarzan of Tarzana; My Way on the Highway
  • Gay About Marriage!; Jazzing up the Classics; A Late Composer's Early Birthday Bash; Bike to Work Day; Aesthetes, Bohemians, and Craftsmen; Auctioning Art for AIDS Research; Ode To Teacher; Grade A Investigator; Gotcha!; Crime Buster; To Catch a Thief; Before Pimlico; 2008 Youth Film Fest; Letters
  • Emergency is Hottest Ticket; Tango the Night Away ...; Last Mother's Day?; New York Times adds to Off-Ramp story; Bus To Mom; Singin' on the Bus; Shining Hollywood Stars; Hep (Web) Cat ...; All Grown Up; Reservoir Memories; Bonaduce v Buddha?; Garden of Flowing Fragrance; Listener Sleuth; Classical Variations
  • Congratulations to John Rabe; Silver-No-Lake; In Search of Water; Sign of Life; A Map of LA; Fire Season Starts in Sierra Madre; Taco Trucks; A Family Affair; Pacific Islander Art; "Grandpa," the Revolutionary; The Dresser's Answer; Fight Fire with Lemonade; The LAPD unveils a new device for crowd control