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.

In Southwest Detroit, A New Generation of Mariachi Musicians Take the Stage

When musician Camilla-Isabella Cantu was 13-years-old, she was recruited to join a youth mariachi group in southwest Detroit where she...

Labor of Love: Artist Freddy Diaz Connects Colors of Mexico to Southwest Detroit

Emilio Cuevas Staying home and staying safe has helped Southwest Detroit artist Freddy Diaz create some of his best work...

62% of Artists Are Out of Work. Relief Funds Can Only Fix So Much.

62% of artists in the United States are out of work.  Nearly all of them have experienced some income loss. ...

Stevie Wonder Is Your 2020 WDET Michigan Music Madness Champion

WDET A huge thank you to everyone who nominated an artist and continued to vote round-by-round in the 2020 WDET...

DJ Mike Huckaby called Detroit home. His music moved people around the world.

One of the early pioneers of Detroit's techno and house electronic music scenes has died. DJ, producer and educator Mike Huckaby...

Marvin Gaye vs. Stevie Wonder: Final Showdown in WDET’s Michigan Music Madness Bracket

WDET Thanks to your nominations and votes, we've gone from 64 artists from different decades of Michigan music. Now, we've...

Burning Bright: Lights Illuminate Start of Ramadan for Michigan’s Muslims

The annual holy month of Ramadan begins this week and Muslims around the globe are finding creative ways to commune...

The Surprising Histories Behind Your Favorite Board Games

In just one week last month, sales of board games and puzzles in the United States grew 228%. It’s a...

Black and Blue: Portraits of America’s Working Class by Detroit Artist Mario Moore

Mario Moore The Detroit art world is growing digitally with efforts to fundraise for local artists and exhibit their work...

Vote Now: WDET’s Final Four Michigan Music Madness Bracket

WDET It's been a long journey to go from 64 Michigan artists down to the top four, but here we...

Detroit’s First Ladies of Gospel Tell Their Story in Lifetime Biopic

The highest-selling female gospel group of all-time, Detroit’s own Clark Sisters helped modernize the genre.  Now the story of sisters is...

Is Stevie Wonder the Greatest of All-Time? Vote in WDET’s Michigan Music Madness Bracket

WDET After receiving hundreds of nominations and narrowing down the field from 64 musicians, we've arrived at the elite 8...