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 Her Detroit Garden, Halima Cassells Honors Her Ancestors With Her Art

The Artist Next Door illuminates and celebrates Detroit area artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds and disciplines to enhance awareness...

Grady Hendrix’s New Novel Flips the Script for the Final Girl

Horror flicks take viewers through a whirlwind of stomach-knotting excursions. The suspense and scare thread an internal angst that forbids...

Detroit Artist Lisa Waud Bringing Immersive Floral Installation to Port Austin, Michigan

Detroit botanical artist Lisa Waud is taking her floral installations out of the city and bringing them north to Port...

WDET Listeners Say Farewell to the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak

It might be the end of an era for metro Detroit movie-goers. The Landmark-owned Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak shut its...

A New Curator at Cliff Bell’s Brings Detroit Jazz Back to the Stage

A new curator at downtown jazz club Cliff Bell’s is putting the spotlight on local musicians. As a bassist himself,...

Michigan Musician Olivia Dear Brings Live Music Back to WDET’s Studio A

Courtesy of Olivia Dear When the world shut down, so did WDET’s Studio A. The recording space has seen performances...

Writing Program at Macomb Correctional Facility Gives Voice to the Incarcerated in New Anthology

A new anthology of poetry is giving a voice to Michigan prisoners. “Absent But Present: Voices from the Writer’s Block”...

“Destroy The Hairdresser” Podcast Explores Eliminating Tips at Hair Salons

Tipping has been a part of America’s service-based economic and cultural fabric for years. Debates have circulated around the concept...

Akeem Smith’s Trip Through Cultural Memory Makes “No Gyal Can Test” Must-See Viewing

Walking into Akeem Smith’s solo debut exhibition is an overwhelming, audio-visual head trip. And that’s a good thing. It’s called...

Clark Orwick, Who Performed As Ded Bob at Michigan Renaissance Festival, Has Passed Away

The performer best known as Ded Bob, who performed for decades at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, has passed away. Paul...

Meet Effa Manley, the First and Only Woman Inducted Into the National Baseball Hall of Fame

The existence of the Negro Leagues not only created space for Black players to rise in the game of baseball....

“Dual Vision” at MOCAD Puts Detroit Artists From Across Generations In The Same Room

COVID-19 has shifted the nature of collaboration, but it hasn’t made it impossible.  That reality is demonstrated in the exhibition...