Simon Cowell, the man tv audiences loved to hate on American Idol, launches his new show, The X Factor, this fall. Actually, it's not so new. It's wildly successful in countries around the world, but is just now coming to America. Auditions for the US version are Sunday in Los Angeles. (CLICK THROUGH FOR INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUDITIONING.) Cowell told Off-Ramp host John Rabe how the new show will be better than the old one.

LISTENER WARNING: This interview -- Off-Ramp host John Rabe's conversation with writer John Albert about his piece in Issue 2 of Slake magazine -- includes frank and non-judgemental descriptions of drug use, teenage sex, unsupervised partying, and the groundbreaking nature of early Van Halen.

And who better to answer than botanical mastermind, Lili Singer?

Earlier last month you heard Off-Ramp's Kevin Ferguson report on the Blue Line's embattled safety record: the line has been tied to 103 deaths so far. While the line has gone to great lengths to reduce fatalities along the line, pedestrian deaths have yet to decline. But what is it like to walk along one of the busiest (and deadliest) light rail lines in the country?

After last week's talk about disaster prep, a listener wrote, "What about me? And the thousands like me?" CLICK THROUGH for her question, our expert's answer, and some of the latest disaster prep gear.

Eat-LA's Colleen Bates tells Off-Ramp's John Rabe and Kevin Ferguson where to go for the best hot dogs -- like Pasadena's messy "Slaw Dog," above.

As tech geeks drool over the iPad 2, Tanya Jo Miller and Queena Kim look into allegations of poor working conditions – not to mention high suicide rates – for workers at Foxconn, Apple’s Chinese factory. (THIS EPISODE HAS BEEN RETRACTED. SEE EDITOR'S NOTE.)