In 1977, Bob Chitester decided to try something bold.
A long time owner and general manager of a pair of public broadcasters in Erie, Pennsylvania—the NPR station WQLN-FM and the PBS channel WQLN-TV—Chitester decided he wanted to create something different.
So he persuaded the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, along with his wife Rose, to launch a film project that became one of the most popular economic shows in history: Free To Choose.
The one-hour TV program debuted in January 1980 in conjunction with the release of Friedman’s book (also titled Free to Choose). Airing on PBS, the series featured Friedman in various locations around the world as he asked important questions about markets, liberty, and economics.
What is the purpose of markets and how do they work?
Why was socialism failing in countries around the world?
Can governments grow economies?
Why did the United States became the richest and freest country in the world while so many other suffered from backward economies despite an abundance of natural resources?
While the program made Friedman one of the most prominent public intellectuals of his day and raised the profiles of many other accomplished economists, including Thomas Sowell, many have pointed out that it was Chitester’s vision that was the true genesis of the program.
“Bob Chitester saw that Milton Friedman was not merely a distinguished intellectual, but a potential television star,” said Dr. Frederic J. Fransen, Founder of Certell and a FEE trustee, after Chitester was honored with the Blinking Lights Award in 2016. “Bob always thinks big. He is not satisfied with polishing one blinking light if the landscape is dark, but rather seeks to illuminate the globe with the stories of freedom. His impact cannot be overstated.”
In honor of Bob Chitester and his contributions to freedom, here are 10 of the best moments of Free to Choose in the program’s history.
Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
