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.
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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.
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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 lyrics of his songs - whether it's "It Isn't Easy Being Green," "Lush Life," or one of the highly suggestive songs the crowd always loved to hear. Larry's past includes stints in the Air Force and at ABC-TV as a graphic designer, and his story proves F. Scott Fitzgerald was probably drunk when he said, "There are no second acts in American lives." Larry is on his third act ... at least. This piece originally aired in 2012; sit back and enjoy. And then go buy "Close Your Eyes," "Larry Davis Too," or any of his other albums on iTunes. Happy New Year! 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.
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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 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.
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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.
Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.
Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)
South Africa