Quarantined with William F. Buckley, Jr. and His Guests [OPINION]

William F. Buckley, Jr. has passed away, but he and his guests live on through the archived episodes of his TV show Firing Line. There is something for everyone.

From 1966 until 1999, William F. Buckley hosted Firing Line on PBS. Buckley was the founder and the guiding light of the conservative magazine The National Review. He was the author of numerous books, both fiction and non-fiction, and thousands of articles. He was an infantry soldier in World War II, an advisor to presidents and kings, and involved in all of the important political questions from the 1950s until the day he died.

One of the reasons to invest your time in watching past episodes of Firing Line is for the opinions of the guests who are mostly from the left. Buckley and his guests discuss major questions and they do it in a format that is currently unavailable on television.

Here are some episodes worth watching:

1. Buckley discusses the fall of Saigon, Vietnam to the Communists 10 years later with his guests. He is joined by Fox Butterfield of the New York Times and H.D.S. Greenway of the Boston Globe.

https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/6826/the-fall-of-saigonand-how-it-might-have-been?ctx=87d3463d-4a28-47fe-b426-23df86ecf368&idx=10

2. Alabama Democrat Gov. George Wallace spars with Buckley on the major questions of the time. Wallace was a strong vote-getter in the Massachusetts Democratic Party Presidential primary in 1976.

https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/6029/the-span-classqueryhlwallacespan-movement?ctx=94a592c2-505b-4b40-9190-fec3bd1c1aff&idx=1

3. Black Panther leader Huey Newton joins Buckley to discuss civil rights and the "black power" movement. Ironically, this is probably one of the few places Newton's message is available.

https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/6257/how-does-it-go-with-the-black-movement?ctx=d0224ea8-4af4-405d-ad6c-87752ab8fc99&idx=8

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.