Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar (or simply Breaking Points) is an American political news and opinion series created and hosted by Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti. It was launched in June 2021 by Ball and Enjeti, both former hosts of The Hill's Rising web series. They publish an audio-only podcast, and the video program is available on YouTube, Rumble, and Spotify. Its format includes one left-wing populist anchor (Ball) and one right-wing populist anchor (Enjeti), who provides news and commentary from an independent platform, separate from the mainstream media.[4][5][6]
| Breaking Points | |||||||
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| Genre | Political news and commentary | ||||||
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| Language | English | ||||||
| Length | 60 minutes | ||||||
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| Original release | June 7, 2021 – present | ||||||
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YouTube information | |||||||
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| Subscribers | 1.35 million[1][2] | ||||||
| Total views | 718,392,069 [1][2] | ||||||
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Last updated: October 18, 2024 | |||||||
Format
editBreaking Points features commentary and analysis of political news and current events, in-studio interviews with journalists, politicians, and other political or cultural figures.[4][7] Ball and Enjeti, the primary hosts, usually publish on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Journalist Ryan Grim and culture writer Emily Jashinsky co-host a show called Counter Points[8] on Wednesdays and Fridays, with the Friday segment hosting political and cultural debates between guests.
The hosts have editorial control over the shows, which focuses on the look and immediacy of live news broadcasting but with independent, populist messaging.[4][9] 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.[4] The majority of the show's revenue comes from premium subscribers, with some additional revenues from YouTube and podcast ads.[4][9] In 2022, their expenses were said to be around one million dollars a year.[4]
History
editOn May 28, 2021, Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti announced their departure from The Hill's Rising.[7][10] The Breaking Points program and channel launched at YouTube on Monday, June 7, 2021, and reached 285,000 channel subscribers by Friday of that week.[10] Ball and Enjeti spoke about the subtle pressure they experienced working under The Hill's corporate umbrella and their dislike of working in a corporate bureaucracy.[4][7]
In September 2022, former Rising hosts Grim and Jashinsky joined Breaking Points.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b YouTube Staff; Ball, Krystal & Enjeti, Saagar (December 25, 2023). "Breaking Points—About" (podcast). Washington, DC: Breaking Points, Inc. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "About Breaking Points". YouTube.
- ^ Ball, Krystal & Enjeti, Saagar (June 27, 2023). Krystal And Saagar Celebrate 1 Million Subscribers (podcast). Washington, DC: Breaking Points, Inc. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Newport, Cal (June 15, 2022). "The Rise of the Internet's Creative Middle Class". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ Fischer, Sara; King, Hope (July 6, 2021). "Corporate Media Backlash Fuels New Upstarts". Axios.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ Purushothaman, Karthik (February 18, 2021). "The American 'Populist Right' After Trump". The Wire.
- ^ a b c Berkowitz, Joe (June 12, 2021). "Why 'Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar' Became the No. 1 Political Podcast in a Week". Fast Company. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ Blair, Douglas (September 20, 2022). "The Mainstream Media Is Dying. Here's What Will Take Its Place". Daily Signal. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
Programs such as "Counterpoints," a new digital talk show hosted by Ryan Grim from The Intercept and Emily Jashinsky from The Federalist...
- ^ a b Tani, Max (May 7, 2023). "Elite podcasts struggle while the podcast masses thrive". Semafur. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ a b "New: Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar". Podcast Business Journal. June 3, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
- ^ Baragona, Justin (September 1, 2022). "Two Hosts Exit The Hill's Popular Web Show 'Rising'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 11, 2022.