Michael Savage (born Michael Alan Weiner; March 31, 1942) is an American radio host, author and political commentator. He is the host of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated talk show that aired on Talk Radio Network across the United States. By 2009 The Savage Nation had an audience of 8 to 10 million listeners on 400 stations across the United States, making it the second most listened-to radio talk show in the country at the time. Beginning October 23, 2012, after several weeks off the air, Michael Savage returned through a new syndicator, Cumulus Media Networks. By April 2013, according to the radio industry's Talkers Magazine, he had 3.5+ million weekly listeners, putting him in a six-way tie for sixth place, and six talk show hosts getting 7.5+ million weekly listeners. He holds master's degrees from the University of Hawaii in medical botany and medical anthropology and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in nutritional ethnomedicine. As Michael Weiner, he has written books on herbal medicine and homeopathy; as Michael Savage, he has written four political books that have reached the New York Times Best Seller List.