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 fasci…

Larry Davis: tears in his beer led to singing career - at 74!

"My whole approach is to have a conversation with the listeners. The words have to mean something to me."  I first heard Larry sing c2010 at The Other Side, the long-closed piano bar in Silverlake. His voice is a little rough-edged, which grabs your attention, and he almost speaks many of the lyri…

A Christmas Carol ... the old time radio version, and some new takes on the Dickens classic

Off-Ramp's Chistmas present to you is our annual holiday special, A Christmas Carol Redux, which combines the old time radio version - starring Lionel Barrymore - with new versions of the perennial holiday production. Enjoy! Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe…

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…

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 C…

One late King of Food helps us remember another: Jonathan Gold on the legacy of King Taco

Sure, there had been tacos al pastor before he did them, but after the popularity of King Taco, everybody had tacos al pastor. People had had carnitas before, but, suddenly, everybody had carnitas. It just seemed to form the template of what the modern Los Angeles taqueria should be.  --Jonathan G…

A rite of passage for LA journos: Rabe recounts his angry phone call from Harlan Elllison

In 2013, I visited an utterly charming and impish Harlan Ellison at his remarkable home and talked at length with him about his work as a prolific Sci-Fi writer. Then came the dreaded - and expected - phone call from Harlan's alter-ego. (Ellison died in 2018 but I wouldn't be surprised if he sent a…

How Leonard Nimoy found peace with Spock, himself, and his son Adam

From 2016, let's listen back to my interview with Adam Nimoy, who had just released "For the Love of Spock," his documentary about his father Leonard Nimoy. It's a loving but candid look at their difficult but ultimately rewarding relationship. (And be sure to listen to my story about when Leonard …

"My grandpa survived the USS Indianapolis," says Kevin Ferguson ... California's last WW1 vet ... and Rabe rides a B-24

For Veteran's Day 2022, we're listening back to three pieces from the Off-Ramp archive. Tamara Keith, now with NPR, talks with California's last surviving World War 1 vet, a spirited 112-year old ... Kevin Ferguson tells us about his grandfather Albert, one of the men who survived the sinking of th…