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.

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This past March, the Internet Archive created the National Emergency Library in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  The lockdown...

Exploring America’s Historic Thirst for Crap

In Wendy A. Woloson’s new book “Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff In America,” she connects our present day consumption...

The Motor City’s Techno Legacy Arrives at the Detroit Historical Museum

When the Movement electronic music festival launched in 2000 under the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF) banner, no one knew...

Why We Can’t Stop Watching Movies About Political Corruption

Politics in American film has been a constant since Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” was released in 1940. Since then,...

Radicalism Of Detroit’s Underground Past Echoes Today

After re-opening to the public in July, the Cranbrook Art Museum has unveiled two new exhibitions, including a tribute to Detroit’s...

Watch Now: Detroit’s Double Winter Premieres “Hot Stones” Music Video

Noah Elliott Morrison CultureShift and 101.9 WDET are excited to partner with the Detroit-based band Double Winter to premiere the...

Detroit Author Alice Randall Brings Black Bottom Back to Life

The historic Black Bottom neighborhood was the vibrant epicenter of Black life in Detroit. And in Alice Randall’s new book...

This Detroit Musician Traces Her Musical Roots to the Antebellum South

String instruments like the fiddle hold a special place in Naima Shamborguer’s heart and family legacy.  In tracing the roots...

Comedy Can Change How We Think About Social Justice

Comedy is a crafty way to divulge dark truths and critique everything through humor. “Comedy really does have properties to...

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Former Detroit Free Press arts reporter and critic Mark Stryker is one of the city’s greatest authorities on homegrown jazz....

Comedian Alex Bozinovic Comes Out Every Time He Steps On Stage

When comedian Alex Bozinovic steps on stage, he’s coming out over and over again. For the audience, it’s confessional and...

Paywall Goes Up At Detroit Free Press, News

The major dailies in Detroit will start putting some of their content behind a digital paywall starting on Wednesday, August...