Journalist Phil Luciano tells stories, looks to the Cross for guidance

Phil Luciano likes to tell people’s stories, help people tell their own stories, and help people make their stories better.

And he does it as a committed Christian.

The longtime, award-winning Peoria journalist now hosts WMBD Radio’s afternoon drivetime talk show, but he’s been in the storytelling business in the Tri-County area since 1987, when he started as a reporter for the Journal Star.

After producing multiple columns a week for decades for the JS, Luciano moved on in 2022, taking a job at WTVP-TV. There, he co-hosted the program “You Gotta See This” and wrote for Peoria Magazine. After the station’s structural shakeup, Phil landed in the 3-6 p.m. slot at WMBD Radio (1470-AM and 100.3-FM), where he had co-hosted an afternoon show with Jamie Markley from 2004-2010.

He has always been active in the community, too, including stints as president of the board of directors for Friends of the Children of Haiti, making several trips to Haiti to assist operations, and helping with the Jimmy Binkley Christmas Party for Seniors.

Oh, and he has taught at six area colleges in the meantime.

At each stop, the Chicago native has brought his Christian faith to bear. He has attended Riverside Community Church in Peoria since 2006, getting involved in prophetic and prayer ministries as well as serving at Dream Center Peoria. He lives in the Peoria area with his wife, Karen. He has one biological adult daughter and three adult stepchildren.

What he does

Phil Luciano is a storyteller, whether he’s writing for a newspaper or magazine, or talking on TV or the radio.

“The main thrust of what I do, the commonality of the four decades I’ve spent in Peoria, is I enjoy telling stories, and people have a lot of stories to tell,” Luciano said. “The challenge has always been to get them to agree to tell that story. If I have any superpower, it’s getting people to tell their story, and it’s not a matter of something you see on TV, with wheedling and weaseling and then just being a pain in the neck. I simply have, over the years, been very candid with people: ‘Here’s what I’d like to talk to you about.’ If there’s any cajoling, it’s just, ‘I think people would like to hear your story.’

“I have no idea why these people agree to talk to me, but I’m guessing it is sincere. I can’t think of a time that someone has said, ‘He has bamboozled me, he said he was gonna talk about X, but it was all about Y.’ I just want people to tell their stories and it’s a privilege to have done that for so long.”