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.

2018 WDET Munch Madness: Pie Sci Wins in a Landslide

Photo via Pie Sci Listen above to the audio of Pie-Sci owner Jeremy Damaske being surprised live on CultureShift with...

2018 WDET Munch Madness: Pie Sci vs. Green Lantern in the Chompionship

In 2017, Detroit was named the #1 city in America for pizza lovers -- but who has the best pizza in metro Detroit?...

Local Hero at Concert Buys Drinks for Band

Photo via Ryan Patrick Hooper Click on the audio player above for the full conversation.  This past Saturday, a music fan...

2018 WDET Munch Madness: Who Will Be Crowned the Pizza Champion?

In 2017, Detroit was named the #1 city in America for pizza lovers -- but who has the best pizza in metro Detroit?...

2018 WDET Munch Madness: Road to the Final Fork

UPDATE: Munch Madness has advanced to the Final Fork -- vote now! In 2017, Detroit was named the #1 city in...

2018 WDET Munch Madness: Will Your Favorite Detroit Pizza Advance to the Elite Ate?

UPDATE: Voting is now open for the WDET Munch Madness Final Fork — vote now! In 2017, Detroit was named the #1 city...

Heavy Rotation: Cosmo Pyke Sounds Wise Beyond His Years On “Great Dane”

Photo via Cosmo Pyke's Facebook page Click the audio player to listen. CultureShift airs weekdays at 12 p.m. It's not...

2018 WDET Munch Madness: Vote Your Favorite Pizza Into the Sweet 16

UPDATE: Voting is now open for the WDET Munch Madness Final Fork — vote now! In 2017, Detroit was named the #1 city...

This Week @ the DFT: “Miss Kiet’s Children” Highlights Refuge Children In A New Country’s Classroom

Photo Courtesy of the DFT The Detroit Film Theatre is known for screening critically acclaimed narrative and documentary films from...

MoPop Music Fest Announces 2018 Line-Up; Bon Iver Returns to Detroit For First Time in a Decade

Courtesy of Mo Pop The 2018 Mo Pop Music Festival returns to the west river front park in downtown Detroit...

Vegan In Michigan? There Are More Options Than Ever Before In Metro Detroit

Courtesy of Nosh Pit Ten years ago it was definitely a lot more difficult to be a vegan in Detroit...

Coming to Detroit: Rhye Breaks Down New Album “Blood” Ahead of El Club Tour Date

Mike Milosh / photo courtesy of Rhye It's been five years since critically-acclaimed band Rhye arrived on the scene with their debut album...