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.
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Fifty years ago Monday, the fresh young head of the Federal Communications Commission told a group of TV broacasters to their face that what they were putting on the air was 99% rubbish, and that they risked their licenses if they didn't shape up. Newton Minow's speech was formally titled "Television and the Public Interest," but it immediately became known as the "Vast Wasteland" speech.
Off-Ramp host John Rabe talked with Newton Minow, now 85, about the speech and its impact ... and about being immortalized on "Gilligan's Island." Yes, he's the namesake for the SS Minnow.