Breaking Points
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar is a U.S. 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 Hills Rising web series. They publish an audio-only podcast, and the video program is available on YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spotify. Its format includes one left-wing populist anchor and one right-wing populist anchor, 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 and 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 The Hill, which has a full-time staff of 30, Breaking Points has a small crew of mainly part-time hourly contractors. Most of the show's revenue comes from premium subscribers, with some additional revenue from YouTube and podcast ads. In 2022, their expenses were said to be around $1 million per year.
History
On May 28, 2021, Ball and Enjeti announced their departure from The Hill's Rising. The Breaking Points program and channel launched at YouTube on June 7, 2021, and reached 285,000 channel subscribers by June 11. 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.In September 2022, former Rising hosts Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinsky joined Breaking Points. They serve as replacement hosts when Ball and Enjeti are unavailable and host their own show, Counter Points, on Wednesdays''.''