One of the most popular morning TV programs is The View, with four leftwing women around the table blasting freedom and free markets five days a week.

It wasn’t always like this. Phil Donahue, whose syndicated TV interview show ran for 30 years before ending in 1996, and who died this week at age 88, was a bleeding-heart liberal. But he was a straight shooter who believed in the fair exchange of ideas.

Steve Hayward of the Hoover Institution reports that one of the most popular YouTube clips from Donahue’s show came from an hour-long appearance by Milton Friedman.

Watch the two-minute clip below and marvel at the succinct wisdom and clarity of Friedman’s answer. But also appreciate that Donahue gave him and other figures on the right – from Ronald Reagan to Ayn Rand to Phyllis Schlafly – a platform for hour-long conversations about their views when few others would.

We long for a return to those days.