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.
Finally got into my full on dive bar jukebox vibes by celebrating the belated 75th birthday of Phil Lynott, the...
Working through the week with new music from Tall Black Guy, a spotlight on drummer Nate Smith ahead of his...
New music from The Smile, Rosie Lowe, Bilal, Bonobo, Phi-Psonics and more, plus a celebration of break-beat legends 4hero and...
A heavy commitment to throwback Thursday today with chilled out Black Sabbath, Otis Redding, Antena, the Crazy World of Arthur...
Did you watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Paris? It brought out some big acts, including Phoenix and...
I came crashing into the week with a pick up of energy with Spoon’s awesome dub edits from Adrian Sherwood...
The way music is released these days — always, all the time — it kinda makes new music Friday feel...
I wanted to start out the show honoring the late great Rodriguez, who we lost a year ago today. It's...
I'm honoring the Paris Olympics with French double bassist Henri Texier! I also drop new experimental prog-rock jazz (call it...
I learned a long time ago in radio that you can try to fight the weather, but it’s best to...
I loved having MI Local host Jeff Milo stop by to preview the 2024 Sounds Like Detroit concert that’s going...
A wonderful journey through music with a world premiere of Detroit’s own Decliner, new Father John Misty, Goat Girl, oreglo,...
