Breaking Points

Last updated

Breaking Points
Presentation
Hosted by
GenrePolitical news and commentary
Format
  • Video
  • audio
LanguageEnglish
Length60 minutes
Publication
Original releaseJune 7, 2021 (2021-06-07) –
present
Related
‹ The template Infobox Twitch streamer is being considered for merging. ›
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers1.63 million [1] [2]
Views813.9 million [1] [2]
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2023 [3]
Last updated: April 4, 2025

Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar (or simply Breaking Points) 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 Hill 's Rising web series. They publish an audio-only podcast, and the video program is available on YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spotify (with the podcast version published by iHeart Podcasts). Its format includes one left-wing populist anchor (Ball) and one right-wing populist anchor (Enjeti), who provide news and commentary from an independent platform, separate from the mainstream media. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

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. [4] [7] 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. [4] [8] Unlike The Hill, which has a full-time staff of 30, Breaking Points has a small crew of mainly part-time hourly contractors. [4] Most of the show's revenue comes from premium subscribers, with some additional revenue from YouTube and podcast ads. [4] [8] In 2022, their expenses were said to be around $1 million per year. [4]

History

On May 28, 2021, Ball and Enjeti announced their departure from The Hill's Rising. [7] [9] The Breaking Points program and channel launched at YouTube on June 7, 2021, and reached 285,000 channel subscribers by June 11. [9] 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 Ryan Grim (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 and host their own show, Counter Points, on Wednesdays. [10]

Reception

In July 2025, Breaking Points was the 28th-most popular podcast on YouTube in the United States and the 84th-most popular podcast on Spotify in the United States. [11] [12]

References

  1. 1 2 YouTube Staff; Ball, Krystal & Enjeti, Saagar (September 26, 2025). "Breaking Points—About" (podcast). Washington, DC: Breaking Points, Inc. Retrieved September 26, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 "About Breaking Points". YouTube.
  3. ↑ Ball, Krystal & Enjeti, Saagar (June 27, 2023). Krystal And Saagar Celebrate 1 Million Subscribers (podcast). Washington, DC: Breaking Points, Inc. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Newport, Cal (June 15, 2022). "The Rise of the Internet's Creative Middle Class". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  5. ↑ Fischer, Sara; King, Hope (July 6, 2021). "Corporate Media Backlash Fuels New Upstarts". Axios.com . Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  6. ↑ Purushothaman, Karthik (February 18, 2021). "The American 'Populist Right' After Trump". The Wire.
  7. 1 2 3 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.
  8. 1 2 Tani, Max (May 7, 2023). "Elite podcasts struggle while the podcast masses thrive". Semafor. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "New: Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar". Podcast Business Journal. June 3, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  10. ↑ Baragona, Justin (September 1, 2022). "Two Hosts Exit The Hill's Popular Web Show 'Rising'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  11. ↑ Spotify. "Podcast Charts". Podcast Charts. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  12. ↑ "YouTube Music Charts". charts.youtube.com. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
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