Still Broadcasting the Truth: At 90, WUSB’s Bill McNulty Isn’t Done Talking

For most people fortunate enough to reach the milestone, 90 years of age is a time of rest, relaxation and retirement. But don't tell that to Bill McNulty, an activist and host at Stony Brook's FM radio station, WUSB.

As long as there are battles to be fought and causes to champion, McNulty said he'll keep doing it as long as he is able.

"I never envisioned this," said McNulty, whose path to the airwaves was a road that took decades to travel.

After graduating from Fordham University in 1956, McNulty began a career at the Metropolitan Insurance Company in New York City, where his father had worked for 40 years. A stint in the US military followed shortly after. Returning to the insurance company after his service ended, McNulty soon had what would be the first of two career epiphanies.

"I did not have a love for New York City, and I thought that if I became a teacher, I could name the location that I wanted to be in," he said. McNulty returned to Fordham and took the courses that were required to qualify for a teaching position in the New York State system. Upon completion, he joined Long Island's Sachem school district, which was then in the formative stages, and went to work as a teacher.

McNulty, a father of six, taught math for seven years, and then social studies for another seven, helping develop the teacher's union and serving as its president for two years. However, after dabbling in the construction business during his summer vacations, McNulty decided to open his own construction business after 15 years as a teacher.

McNulty would work another 15 years in construction until experiencing financial difficulties in the early 90s, at about the same time the Gulf War developed. Though he continued to work in the construction field, the changing political landscape in America and the world pulled him in a new direction.

"I began working with the local church in the area of peace and justice, and it was then that I began to synthesize and try to better understand just what was going on in our society," he said. "I had spent a great deal of time prior to that awakening and exerting my energies and aiming them at trying to prevent what took place during that period of time."

In the effort to find somebody who might listen, McNulty, a resident of nearby Setauket, made a call to WUSB. Mort Mecklosky, a retired Stony Brook logic professor who hosted a political show on WUSB in his retirement, was intrigued enough to invite him on as a guest.

"The first time around I was quite nervous," said McNulty. "Until Mort said, 'Listen, don't be nervous. Nobody's listening anyway.'"

The appearance went well enough that McNulty was invited back the next week - and then every Monday for the next five years.

"I came to the conclusion that I could talk and that I perhaps might have something worth hearing," he said.

McNulty began hosting his own show in 1995, and has been a mainstay at WUSB ever since. He broadcast live from the studio in Stony Brook until the COVID-19 pandemic, at which time he, along with most of the on-air staff, began broadcasting remotely from the same Setauket home he has lived in since 1964, which he continues to do as a matter of convenience. After 3 1/2 decades behind the mic, McNulty still describes WUSB as a voice of truth.

"WUSB represents the voice of the people in so many ways and I have had the chance to bring listeners a bit of reality that they do not ordinarily receive," he said. "It's such a valuable asset to the community. I appreciate folks taking an interest in what it's like for a 90-year-old to keep plugging away at what seems to be an impossible dream. I never want to admit it's impossible. It is possible, and the outcome and the positive results of that dream can come about, but it will only come about if we operate cooperatively in solidarity. That's why WUSB became such an outlet for me. I've had responses from people from all over and that has brought me through."

"It's quite a milestone to have a DJ in his 90s," said Phil Merkel, McNulty's producer and co-host, and host of WUSB's Captain Phil's Planet. "Lunch on Thursdays is still a lively talk show about current events and politics, and features lots of great stories about Bill's life. He's always been a positive force lighting up our airwaves and it's something I look forward to every Thursday."

As for slowing down, McNulty says that isn't on the schedule. And after 30 years behind the mic, McNulty is still proud of WUSB's role in providing a platform for truth and resistance, and vows to continue his activism despite challenges.

"There's more to protest about now than ever before," he said, noting the No Kings protests that saw more than four million people take to the streets in June. "So there's plenty to be discussed. Keep doing as long as you can."

"Bloody and bowed sometimes - it gets tough at times," he added. "You've got to keep your spirits up, and the only way you can keep them up is to reach out, step out of the comfort zone a little bit, get out and mix with others. It's impressive to join with hundreds and hundreds of like-minded people. It's that type of interaction that bolsters my spirits and my determination. In the midst of all this, you've got to see the humor. You've got to laugh and smile when the opportunity presents itself. You've got to keep a stiff upper lip, stay side-by-side, and stay in solidarity."

-Robert Emproto