Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host of "In the Groove" on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.
Hooper grew up reading the Sunday paper with his dad. That’s where he learned the basics of writing while dreaming of one day writing the stories himself. At 16, he knocked on the door of his hometown paper and asked for a job as a reporter. Since then, he's written extensively for the Detroit Free Press -- the same paper he grew up reading.
Since joining WDET in 2017, Hooper has expanded the station’s arts and culture coverage and received numerous awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasting along the way. Nationally, Hooper was awarded a 2020 RTDNA Regional Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting for his story “Would You Rent a Stray Dog From the City of Detroit?“ In 2018, Hooper was named the Associated Press Michigan Editors Broadcast Rising Star in broadcast journalism. He received the prestigious Crain’s Detroit Business “20 In Their 20s” award in 2014. His commitment to volunteerism was recognized by the State of Michigan in 2007.
His juggalo-inspired I.C.Pizza costume was selected by the Huffington Post as one of the best Halloween costumes of 2014.
During the Jim Crow era, “traveling while black” meant being denied entry into certain establishments, including restaurants, hotels, service stations and...
Courtesy of Jeremy Piven Jeremy Piven started out as a stage actor at Second City in Chicago before he headed to...
As Detroit continues to strengthen its arts and culture scene and work toward becoming a cultivating hub for artists and...
Donavan Glover On Sunday night at a former synagogue converted into the Shylo Arts space for both local and national...
HuthPhoto / Detroit Public Theatre Kane Smego started out by making a name for himself as a spoken word performer...
Meta Stange First-time filmmaker Joanna James planned to focus her lens on her own mother Val James — a longtime...
Meta Stange A pair of small businesses in the city’s New Center neighborhood are teaming up to not only support...
Her vibrant orange hair and curls peeking under a beanie hat instantly grab your attention, but when Detroit-based singer-songwriter Charity...
MYNA is a lyrical R&B singer with the influences of Jhene Aiko flowing through her visual style and rap-sing delivery. CultureShift is...
With their annual fundraising gala and a new exhibition highlighting African-American collectors and artists on deck, the Detroit Institute of...
What role does morality play in the blurred lines of fair use and public domain? In August 2018, Zoe Ligon,...
Ahead of her scheduled talk at this year's edition of TEDxDetroit, home renovation expert Nicole Curtis — best known for...
