From Billie Holiday to “Over the Rainbow,” the Influence of Jewish Americans on Pop Culture
On March 23, the book “There Was A Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream” is getting a revised and...
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.
“Jazz From Detroit” Author Mark Stryker Celebrates Jazz This Weekend at the DSO
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is throwing a virtual jazz marathon this weekend. Courtesy of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Starting at...
“Detroit Stories” Brings Alice Cooper Back Home to the Motor City
When Alice Cooper talks about his new album “Detroit Stories,” out Friday, February 26, he swears that it’s not about...
The Motown Musician Accelerator Is Looking To Support the Next Wave of Detroit Musicians
The latest round of the Motown Musician Accelerator initiative is now accepting applications. The 12-week intensive program is catered to...
Black Hockey Players Take Center Ice In “Soul On Ice” Documentary
Growing up as a Black kid in Toronto in the late 1970s, documentary filmmaker Damon Kwame Mason didn’t see a...
A New Outdoor Concert Venue Arrives in Downtown Detroit This Spring
A new outdoor concert venue is landing in downtown Detroit starting this spring. The socially-distanced design of the space is...
At One of Detroit’s Oldest Art Institutions, A First — An All-Black Group Exhibition
When the writer and philosopher W.E.B DuBois wrote “The Souls of Black Folk” in 1903, his observations of being Black...
How Do We Talk About Fat Discrimination? Author Aubrey Gordon Has An Idea
It’s time to have a real and intentional conversation about fat, the look of real body-positive advocacy and the stigmas...
Detroit Poets Reflect on Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman “Stepping Into Her Moment”
At just 22-years-old, Amanda Gorman is putting poetry in the spotlight. She stole the show at President Joe Biden’s inauguration...
New Exhibit at MOCAD Invites You To Take Black Contemporary Art Off The Shelf
Where Asmaa Walton saw an opportunity to fill in a blindspot, she took it -- by building a project that...
Manipulated and Manufactured: A Veteran Journalist Talks Identifying “Fake News” and Gaining Trust
As humans, we love being “in the know” and sharing what we know -- or think we know. What has...
How To Keep Your Sense of Humor with Detroit Comedian T. Barb
How does Detroit comedian Tiffany “T. Barb” Barber keep a sense of humor about everything the world has thrown at...