''Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar'' (or simply ''Breaking Points'') is an American political news and opinion series created and hosted by

Krystal Ball Krystal Marie Ball (born November 24, 1981) is an American political commentator and media host. She was previously a political candidate, as well as a television host at MSNBC, a regular contributor to ''The Huffington Post'', and a co-host of ...

and Saagar Enjeti. It was launched in June 2021 by Ball and Enjeti, both former hosts of '' The Hill''s ''

Rising Rising or RISING may refer to: Film and TV * "Rising", 2001 television series episode, see list of ''Dark Angel'' episodes * "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), television series episode * ''Rising'' (web series), an American daily news and opini ...

'' web series. They publish an audio-only podcast, and the video program is available on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, Rumble,

Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts (known as simply Podcasts in Apple operating systems) is an audio streaming service and media player application developed by Apple Inc. for playing podcasts. Apple began supporting podcasts with iTunes 4.9 released in June 2005 ...

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

and

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(with the podcast version being published by iHeart Podcasts.) Its format includes one

left-wing populist Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often includes elements of anti-elitism, opposition to the E ...

anchor (Ball) and one

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

anchor (Enjeti), who provide news and commentary from an independent platform, separate from the mainstream media.

Format

''Breaking Points'' features commentary and analysis of political news and current events, in-studio interviews with journalists, politicians, and other political or cultural figures. Ball and Enjeti, the primary hosts, usually publish on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The hosts have editorial control over the show, which focuses on the look and immediacy of live news broadcasting but with independent, populist messaging. Unlike working at ''The Hill'', which required a full-time staff of thirty, ''Breaking Points'' has a small crew of mainly part-time hourly contractors. The majority of the show's revenue comes from premium subscribers, with some additional revenues from YouTube and podcast ads. In 2022, their expenses were said to be around one million dollars a year.

History

On May 28, 2021,

and Saagar Enjeti announced their departure from ''The Hill's Rising''. The ''Breaking Points'' program and channel launched at

on Monday, June 7, 2021, and reached 285,000 channel subscribers by Friday of that week. Ball and Enjeti spoke about the subtle pressure they experienced working under ''The Hills corporate umbrella and their dislike of working in a corporate bureaucracy. In September 2022, former ''Rising'' hosts

Ryan Grim Ryan W. Grim (born March 23, 1978) is an American author and journalist. Grim was Washington, D.C., bureau chief for ''HuffPost'' and formerly the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for '' The Intercept''. In July 2024, Grim and ''The Intercept''s co ...

(who expresses democratic socialist views) and Emily Jashinsky (who expresses conservative views) joined ''Breaking Points''. They serve as replacement hosts when Ball and Enjeti are unavailable for an episode and host their own show ''Counter Points'' on Wednesdays''.''

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Political mass media in the United States Internet properties established in 2021 2021 establishments in the United States