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Off-Ramp
Hosted by John Rabe

Exploring Southern California with John Rabe

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Episodes
  • KPCC's John Rabe and crime writer Denise Hamilton outside the shuttered Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood.
    Goodbye to the Pink Lady and The Formosa; hello 8-Bit music and Joshua Tree
    Lynne Westmore Bloom died last week. In 1966, her giant pink naked lady appeared over the Malibu Canyon tunnel, delighting many, and pissing off local officials. ... Sanden Totten, of science podcast Brains On, takes us to Joshua Tree and explains how its shrubs, animals, and Joshua Trees survive. ... The Formosa Café just closed, so we'll talk about its role as a creative shorthand for evoking the glamour of Old Hollywood. ... 8-Bit music, the sound of old school video games, is s now a genre for musicians who like its simplicity and the era it evokes. We’ll tell you about an 8-bit music festival happening this weekend in LA.
  • Pastrami navelgazing at Langer's Deli, and a broadside aimed at hipster chefs
    Marc Haefele considers "Breaking News" at the Getty Center, which shows how broken newsgathering has often been; In "Broke," KPCC's Rina Palta and Priska Neely look at California's growing homeless problem; Taylor Orci talks pastrami and deli menus with Norm Langer; and Gustavo Arellano tells hipster chefs to look away from Mexico for inspiration in 2017.
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  • Pokemon Go players Justin Diaz, from Azusa; Steven Chavarria, Hesperia; and Christian Diaz, Azusa, with a piece of public art outside LAPD headquarters.
    Pokemon Go See Public Art
    The Pokemon Go craze might get people to see more public art ... would you live in a murder house? Surf Punks!
  • Scarlet celebrated Ringo Starr's birthday at Capitol Records Thursday.
    Ringo, loquats, and a Skid Row artist you should meet
    Meet an artist named Juanita Pina who lives on LA’s Skid Row. We’ll hear from Ringo Starr and talk with some of the hundreds of fans (like Scarlet, right) who celebrated his birthday with him in Hollywood. Tim Cogshell has another DIY film festival for Off-Ramp listeners, this time looking at 3 important films in the film noir style.
  • Guess which hand is an artist and which is a journalist
    Japanese Brazilian American artist makes art world debut ... at 78.
    Kenzi Shiokava's big break at the Hammer's "Made in LA" ... remembering the passion of Jim Hangley, owner of Mustangs Only! ... take a siesta in Nappify's sleep pods ... a day in the life of Little Arabia ... St Thomas More comes to LA ... Dogs v Fireworks
  • Garrison Keillor's exit interview, bootleg In-N-Out, Lakers' new coach
    Garrison Keillor looks back on decades of Prairie Home, the Lakers hire their 4th coach in as many years and we taste test CaliBurger, Pasadena's newest In-N-Out Clone
  • A scene from Nicholas and Bernard Meyer's "Around the World in 80 Days." That's Nick in the top hat.
    For the first time, Nicholas Meyer's teenage movie
    Wrath of Khan's director Nick Meyer shares the movie he made with his dad in the late 1950s ... sound intersection ideas, literally ... Pasadena's homeless champion retires after 21 years ... the last slavery movies you will ever need to see ...
  • The Streetlight Museum at the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works building was dedicated in January 2015. Los Angeles is the second largest city streetlight system in the country, second to New York City.
    The streetlight museum lights up Downtown LA
    LA's hottest new museum is is in a building downtown and only open a half hour a month, Tony Danza write letters to Tupac, bunnies glow downtown
  • Off-Ramp host John Rabe and punk icon John Doe.
    John Doe plays live!
    John Doe, an icon of the LA punk scene, joins us to play songs from his new album, and to talk about a new memoir about the old days ... If you’ve been called for jury duty in downtown LA, there’s a good chance you went to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. But who was Clara Shortridge Foltz? ... You've seen the AIDS Healthcare Foundation billboards: they’re outrageous, memorable, and very effective. We talk with the man behind AHF’s often controversial outdoor ad campaigns.
  • Off-Ramp's John Rabe and Chaya Leah Esakhan in the Off-Ramp studio
    A Jewish Journal singles column changed this girl's life
    Chaya Leah Esakhan, Persian-Jewish-American, meets the author of My Single Peeps ... Birding with Xiu Xiu ... How to write an AHF billboard ... ride in a B-24 ...
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