Breaking Points
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2023) |
| Breaking Points | |||||||
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| Presentation | |||||||
| Hosted by |
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| Genre | Political news and commentary | ||||||
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| Language | English | ||||||
| Length | 60 minutes | ||||||
| Publication | |||||||
| Original release | June 7, 2021 – present | ||||||
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YouTube information | |||||||
| Channel | |||||||
| Subscribers | 1.35 million[1][2] | ||||||
| Total views | 718,392,069 [1][2] | ||||||
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Last updated: October 18, 2024 | |||||||
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]
Format
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Breaking Points features commentary and analysis of political news and current events, in-studio interviews with journalists, politicians, campaign staff and surrogates, political advisors and strategists, and members of the news media, and occasional live-analysis segments. Ball and Enjeti, the primary hosts, usually publish on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Journalist Ryan Grim and culture writer Emily Jashinsky co-host on a show on Wednesdays and Fridays called Counter Points with the Friday segment hosting political and cultural debates between guests.
Ball and Enjeti each produce, write, and deliver a monologue each episode highlighting an important topic in current events. The hosts analyze the topic, usually organized into three or four bullet-points. This is followed by an open discussion with the other host, available to premium subscribers.
Business model
[edit]The majority of the show's revenue comes from premium subscribers, with some additional revenues from YouTube and podcast ads.[4][7] In 2022, their expenses were said to be around one million dollars a year.[4]
History
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On May 28, 2021, Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti announced their departure from The Hill's Rising. 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.[8] Currently, it is rated 4.4 on Apple Podcast and 4.5 on Spotify.
Ball and Enjeti had spoken about subtle pressure they experienced working under The Hill's corporate umbrella when choosing topics to cover and the angles used in their coverage there.
At the new venture, they gained complete editorial control over their work.[citation needed][8][dubious – discuss]
Other personnel
[edit] | This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2023) |
In September 2022, former Rising hosts Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinsky also joined Breaking Points.[9] Grim and Jashinsky now co-anchor their own show, Counterpoints, which airs on the Breaking Points YouTube channel.[10]
The Breaking Points YouTube channel occasionally features contributions from a number of other reporters or writers.[citation needed] The channel also posts cross-over content from other affiliated partners and programs. These have included:[citation needed]
- Ken Klippenstein
- Maximillian Alvarez
- Matt Stoller
- The Lever
- Marshall Kosloff
- Kyle Kulinski
- James Li (YouTuber)
- Spencer Snyder
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.[full citation needed]
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Tani, Max (May 7, 2023). "Elite podcasts struggle while the podcast masses thrive". Semafur. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ a b 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.
Together, [Ball and Enjeti] hosted The Hill's internet morning show, Rising, for the past two years, grabbing enough viewers to net a book deal just in time for the presidential election... / In late May, [they] announced they were leaving Rising and The Hill to build something of their own. They wanted a well-produced internet morning show (and podcast) unbeholden to any corporate interests, which they view as the ruination of most, if not all, major media ventures.
- ^ Baragona, Justin (September 1, 2022). "Two Hosts Exit The Hill's Popular Web Show 'Rising'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Grim, Ryan. "Jeremy Scahill's interview on Counter Points". DropSite News. Substack. Retrieved October 22, 2024.