The Motown Museum is Back: Social Distancing, a New Exhibit and a Slice of Detroit History
A trip to the Motown Museum will be different these days. After a four-month shutdown due to COVID-19, the historic...
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.
After 44-Year Run, Dally in the Alley Won’t Happen This September
The free neighborhood festival Dally in the Alley started as a protest party 44 years ago. Wayne State University wanted...
Downriver Mental Health Clinic Helps Bartenders, Service Industry Workers
Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dealt a blow to bars just a few weeks into reopening by issuing an executive...
Whitmer Closes Indoor Seating at Bars in Metro Detroit
A new executive order from Governor Gretchen Whitmer means bars that make more than 70% of their revenue from alcohol...
Detroit Perfume-Maker Says New Scents Will Help Us Move Past Pandemic
If your house smelled like lemon on a Saturday morning, it was a cleaning day. That smell of fresh citrus...
Fund For Detroit’s Black Farmers Raises Thousands To Generate More Land Ownership
As the country continues to focus on both police brutality and the myriad ways people of color are put at a systemic...
Detroit’s Major Museums To Reopen on July 10th
Detroit’s major museums have announced plans to re-open their doors to patrons on Friday, July 10th. The Detroit Institute of...
“Black Lives Matter” At A Church In Gentrifying Corktown Neighborhood
On the corner of Michigan and Trumbull in the city’s Corktown neighborhood, St. Peter's Episcopal Church is practicing “radical hospitality.”...
A Monument to Malice Green Rises in Highland Park
At the corner of Hamilton and Puritan Avenue in Highland Park, Sydney G. James is painting a 3,500-square-foot mural on...
“Deacon King Kong” Author James McBride on the Music That Changed His Life
Ryan Patrick Hooper It was a certain "hump and swing" that came through in gospel music that captivated James McBride,...
Curating a Pandemic: The Henry Ford Wants Your Coronavirus Artifacts In Their Museum
Museums around the country are starting to think about how they’ll present the global pandemic of COVID-19 to future generations. ...
Anxiety in Service Industry as Michigan Restaurants, Bars Reopen
Michigan restaurants and bars are preparing to re-open on June 8th following the end of Michigan’s 'Stay Home' order, but...
