Off-Ramp listeners, introducing The Big Disaster: The Big Burn from LAist Studios. As the world enters a new age of wildfires, science reporter Jacob Margolis dives deep into personal stories that illuminate the history of how we got here, why we keep screwing things up, and what we can do to survive and maybe even thrive while the world around us burns. 

Listen to this episode and catch all the others here. 

Preppi is giving a free emergency kit with any purchase over $100. Go to preppi.com/thebigburn for more information.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/bigburn and get on your way to being your best self.

This piece from the vast Off-Ramp archive is from the very first Off-Ramp - August 5, 2006 - and it's still one of my favorites because it answers a very simple question. What's it like to ride a motorcycle in LA?

The obvious person to answer that question was Susan Carpenter, then the motorcycle columnist for the LA Times (now at Spectrum News 1), who put a little microphone into her helmet and then took off down the streets, roads, and freeways of LA.

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

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Virtual Tour of China: Chinese Artists look Outside; Dinner Party Download; Putting the Brakes on Fast Food; E is for Idiot; Virtual Tour of China: Shaved Ice in the SGV and beyond; L.A.'s Own Water Polo Olympian; Lawn Bowling: Beijing or Bust?; Tower of Terror; Going for Gold in the Smog; The Mayor of Gladys Park; Virtual Tour of China: Absurd Recreation; Handy Man

Dinner Party Download; Sushi Zen; Sushi 101; Hot Ramen; I Eat Ramen, Here Me Roar!; Would You Eat Granny?; Urban Survivalist; El Pollo Chino; Some botanas, por favor; Umami=Yummy; The Best Milkshake in Riverside; Too Fresh Fish; Sushi Delicacies; Your Own Sushi Chef; Sushi Wrap-Up

Happy 2nd, Off-Ramp!; There's Gold in These Hills!; Dinner Party Download; Newsletter Alert!; Shaken and Stirred; The Earthquake As it Happened; Gold Fever; Charles Perry, Renaissance Man; Monster Movie Sets: Built for Destruction; Tanker Planes Take a Hit; It Was Worth the Wait, Right?; No Jalapenos? Well try these peppers; Music on Off-Ramp: "My Dwarf is Getting Tired"; Music on Off-Ramp: "Use Me"; Music on Off-Ramp: "There's a Goldmine in the Sky"

The Debut of the Dinner Party Download; A Tribute to Theme Songs; The Art of Theme Songs; Song for Night; Song for Night; On the Righteous Path; The Watson Twins; Hollywood's Hungarian Rhapsody; Hooked on... Jane Austen?; Olive Oil in California; Music: Anat Cohen

Welcome to Doo-Dah; Doo Dah Surf - Part One; The Duke of Surfing; Doo Dah Surf - Part Two; Doo Dah Surf - Part Three; Hang Tiki; Surf Break; Time Capsule; A Nest for the Homeless

It's a Wonderful Life; You Knew Him As Bozo; Onion Rings in the I.E.; Mock Me Gently; Compton Remembers the Williams Sisters; How Green Was My Valley?; Tom Disch Remembered; The New Beverly Cinema; Tarzan of Tarzana; L.A.'s Screenplay: "Right of Way"; Doo-Dah Surf on July 19th

Anime-niacs!; On Being Faithful; Coming to America; New Citizens; "El Piolin," American At Last; Full Metal and Tiny Toys; Attention!; The Voice of Anime; Say NET-SKAY!; Yowee!; Representative Spendthrift; He's Ba-ack...; Banana Oil!; Remembering Summer

1984 Revisited; Cruisin' for Neon; Megapuss Live at the Hammer Museum; Harvard Glee Club Celebrates 150 Years; Look Ma--No Hands!; George Carlin Remembered; Reporter's Roundtable; It's a Costume, Savvy?; Cheech The Art Collector; A Late Composer's Early Birthday Bash; Pomp and Circumstance; They're back...