William Wolf Handel (born August 25, 1951) is a Brazilian-born American radio host and attorney.
Handel currently hosts two radio programs on KFI in Los Angeles, California. First is KFI's local morning drive time show, in which he comments on current events. The program is one of the top rated morning programs in the Los Angeles radio market, with more than 1 million listeners. Additionally, he hosts a legal advice show on weekends called Handel on the Law, which launched in 1985 and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, co-owned with KFI by iHeartMedia, Inc. Handel on The Law is heard on more than 150 stations in the U.S. He is also the director and founder of the Center for Surrogate Parenting.
His legal show is currently his longest running radio program to date. Both of Handel's shows played across the U.S. on the America's Talk channel 158 on XM Satellite Radio. In 2008, Handel's shows were discontinued by XM Radio when it merged with Sirius Satellite Radio.
Early life and career
Handel was born in Brazil. His father Leo was from Yugoslavia, and his mother Nechama was a Polish Jew who grew up in Brazil. Handel's paternal grandparents were killed in the Holocaust. The Handel family emigrated to the U.S. when Bill was five.
He spent the remainder of his formative years growing up in the San Fernando Valley. He attended California State University, Northridge where he obtained his bachelor's degree in political science in 1976. He then started a construction company and attended the Whittier College School of Law at night, graduating with his J.D. from in 1979. Around his graduation from law school, Handel became addicted to cocaine. In 1983, Handel underwent rehabilitation at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica.
Later in the 1980s, Handel provided counsel for legal cases around surrogate parenting and founded the Center for Surrogate Parenting & Egg Donation.
In 1994, he hosted a weekly syndicated television show, Judge For Yourself, which was canceled due to low ratings and the lack of time in Handel's schedule. Judge For Yourself was unique in that it solicited comments from a 900 number, whose results would be broadcast on the next day's show.
He underwent bariatric surgery at Centinela Freeman Hospital to lose weight. Handel's experiences with this surgical procedure have been documented in a series of segments on his morning radio show.
Radio work
Handel joined 640 KFI Los Angeles in 1989 doing a weekend legal show called "Handel On The Law." On July 16, 1993, Handel began broadcasting a talk and information wake up show, replacing the prior morning team. Prior to January 2014, The Bill Handel Show aired from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., and was heavily news based. The first hour was primarily discussion of Handel's personal life, letters to the show, and banter with other staffers. The light banter in the 5 a.m. hour was cut when, in January 2014, the show moved to 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. time slot.
On April 15, 1994, Handel hosted a Holocaust themed show live from Auschwitz, where his grandparents were killed. He planned on having two white nationalist guests including John Metzger, but the two guests were deported from Germany before they could appear on the show.
The show now begins with the Handel on the News, a summary of the morning's top stories delivered with Handel's commentary, with appropriate music cues starting each story and playing "under" his delivery. In the second, third and fourth hour, Handel has guests to discuss topics in the news. He often covers a single news story or item of interest for a half-hour, summarizing various other perspectives and offering his own opinion. Handel on the News: Late Edition airs at 8:30 am, is a condensed version of the 6 am hour, and includes stories not covered in the earlier version.
On his weekend show, Handel on the Law, he gives terse "marginal legal advice" designed to point callers in the right direction. He often makes fun of callers for getting themselves into their legal predicament, stating bluntly, "you have absolutely no case." Still, the show is informative in that it deals with many common legal problems, such as landlord-tenant issues, child custody, and divorce in an easy-to-understand way. The show is heard Saturday mornings on KFI, but affiliate stations may air it at any time during the weekend.