©2025 Southern California Public Radio
Member-supported news for Southern California
Donate
Support for LAist comes from:
Become an LAist Sponsor
On February 29, this site will be merged with LAist.com. Read more
Off-Ramp
Hosted by John Rabe

Exploring Southern California with John Rabe

Ways to Subscribe
Episodes
  • Meet Milton Love, the Neil deGrasse Tyson of the Sea
    Off-Ramp commentator Milton Love, an eminent marine biologist at UC Santa Barbara, is also a great storyteller. And this time, he tells us stories about how fish got their names. Including one of the most disgusting fishes, which was appropriately named for one of the most disgusting humans.

  • Flu v Covid ... The eerie parallels between LA's responses to the 1919 and 2020 pandemics
    In 2015 Michael Holland, the LA City Archivist, dug into his files to explore how the city reacted to the 1919 flu epidemic that killed millions around the world. Michael was inspired to explore the topic by a measles outbreak, but no matter, the parallels between 1919 and today are eerie and fascinating. Masks in theaters? Music in restaurants? It's all there, more than a hundred years ago.

Load More
Support Off-Ramp today
LAist Studios relies on listener support to power the podcasts you love.
  • The LA-based United Productions of America animation house changed the face of animation and heavily influenced design. So how come, animation expert Charles Solomon asks on this week's Off-Ramp, isn't UPA featured in Pacific Standard Time?
    Up! with UPA on Off-Ramp - 10-22-11
    Solomon boosts UPA ... Pacific Standard Time and the Long Beach Museum of Art's pioneering video art ... a great sound piece from Steven Cuevas ... IUD's make a comeback ... Vets speak out at KPCC's Crawford Family Forum ...
  • From the LA Public Library online photo collection, a lovely shot that makes Rabe want to relax in the corner with a very cold gin martini (2 olives) and watch the patrons come in. This was Romanoff's in Beverly Hills, which closed in 1962, run by the famous Michael Romanoff, who pretended to be Russian royaly, but was actually a Brooklyn pants presser. Let's here it for the pressers among us!
    Off-Ramp's audio cocktail - 10-15-2011
    Spend a day with Huell Howser ... Pacific Standard Time: LA's art history with Judy Chicago and De Wain Valentine's monolith ... young birder uses public transit ... Thos Guides remembered, and they're not even dead ...
  • A scene from the Great Depression. During KPCC's fall fund drive, we're helping people hit by the Great Recession, by partnering with the LA Regional Food Bank.
    Feeding the Hungry on Off-Ramp - 10-8-2011
    KPCC listeners near 1,000,000 meals for hungry ... new book reviews ethnic spas ... fighting bullying with jiu-jitsu ... CyberFrequencies marks the Afghanistan War's 10th anniversary ... Hard Times and child care ... Brian Watt and Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporters, get real ...
  • Pacific Standard Time, Off-Ramp (10-1-11) Style
    Pacific Standard Time - almost 70 art exhibits over six months - proves LA's place in history of Modern Art ... Jim Meskimen and his 75 celebrity impressions ... the Wende Museum in Culver City preserves Cold War history ... Are you prepared for The Big One? Probably not ... "Andy Rooney" reminisces ...
  • Hard Times Get Harder - Off-Ramp 9-24-11
    LA Regional Food Bank, barometer of poverty ... UCLA Anderson: years of hard times ahead ... Great Wall mural restoration in Valley ... Rabe blows shofar for Rosh Hashanah ... MoLAA's Pacific Standard Time exhibit shows Mexican influences ...
  • Denise Hamilton's new novel, Damage Control.
    Special: Denise Hamilton on "Damage Control" - Off-Ramp 9-20-11
    For our online listeners and podcast subscribers (you subscribe, don't you?), KPCC's John Rabe goes in-depth with "Damage Control" author Denise Hamilton in a special Off-Ramp podcast.
  • An undated "How Not To" photo from the LA Public Library.
    Coyotes Fight Glendale Blight - Off-Ramp 9-17-11
    Glendale's Coyote squatters get reprieve ... Pictures of a Revolucion ... Calista Flockhart's new radio role ... James Sallis, "Drive" novelist ... Denise Hamilton's new LA thriller ... New library in Compton stirs old memories for Kitty Felde ...
  • Rescuers at the base of the World Trade Center 14 September 2001, in New York.
    Ground Zero Volunteer - Off-Ramp 9/10/11
    A Ground Zero volunteer tells his story ... kids tell us how they learned about 9-11 ... a shark tank diver at the County Fair ... Van Dyke Parks on helping the Beach Boys make "Smile" ... nude debate in San Francisco ...
Load More