# Krystal Ball
**Krystal Ball** is an American political commentator, podcast host, and former congressional candidate, best known as co-host of the independent daily show *Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar* alongside Saagar Enjeti. She previously worked as an MSNBC contributor and co-hosted the show *Rising* at The Hill before leaving in 2021 to launch an independent media venture.[1](https://www.axios.com/2021/07/06/corporate-media-backlash-upstarts) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current role | Host and producer of *Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar*; co-host of *Krystal Kyle & Friends*[3](https://muckrack.com/krystalball) |
| 2010 campaign | Ran as a Democrat against Rep. Rob Wittman in Virginia's 1st District; lost by 29 percentage points[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html) |
| MSNBC | Signed a contract as a contributor and "go-to Democratic strategist" in 2011[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html) |
| Breaking Points launch | Left The Hill in 2021; the show gained nearly half a million YouTube subscribers in its first month and ranked in the top 10 news podcasts on Apple Podcasts in the U.S.[1](https://www.axios.com/2021/07/06/corporate-media-backlash-upstarts) |
| Book | Co-authored *The Populist's Guide to 2020* with Saagar Enjeti[4](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breaking-points-media-bias) |
| Bias ratings | AllSides rates *Breaking Points* Center (−0.86, April 2026 review, low confidence); Media Bias/Fact Check rates Ball Left with "Mostly Factual" reporting[4](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breaking-points-media-bias) • [5](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/krystal-ball-bias-rating/) |
## The 2010 campaign and photo controversy
Ball entered politics as a 28-year-old political novice, running an educational software company with her husband while mounting an uphill campaign against Representative Rob Wittman, a Republican, in Virginia's 1st District, which stretches from Fredericksburg to Newport News.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html) Her candidacy had drawn almost no attention until risqué photos taken at a costume party when she was 22, showing Ball and her ex-husband holding a sex toy, emerged on a pair of conservative blogs.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html)
**Her response defined her public profile.** Ball blamed the story on sexism and a double standard for women who run for office, writing in a Huffington Post op-ed that instead of a congressional candidate, "for millions of people around the world, I am a joke named Krystal Ball, a party girl or a whore."[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html) Her name quickly became one of the most-Googled terms in the world, and she appeared on MSNBC and [Fox News](https://www.edgepedia.org/fox-news). She later said she did not regret the incident and did not apologize or deny the photos were hers.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html) Wittman defeated her by 29 percentage points in an election cycle in which Republicans won across Virginia and the country, but the controversy had already moved her toward a career in political media.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html)
Her memorable name has a family origin: her father, a physicist, wrote his doctoral dissertation on crystals.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html)
## MSNBC and Rising
The campaign's notoriety turned Ball into a fixture on MSNBC. By September 2011 she had signed a contract as a contributor and "go-to Democratic strategist" on the network, appearing on programs including The Dylan Ratigan Show.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html) She later described her departure from MSNBC as having come under less than amicable terms, and the episode remains a recurring subject in her commentary on corporate media.[6](https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/krystal-ball)
Ball subsequently co-hosted *Rising with Krystal & Saagar*, a morning political talk show at TheHill.com, with the conservative Saagar Enjeti.[7](https://www.realclearpolicy.com/2019/12/24/krystal_ball_the_antindashrachel_maddow_for_the_populist_age_43721.html) A 2019 profile in *Jacobin* described the show's populist framing, positioning Ball as a left-populist counterpart to establishment cable commentary.[7](https://www.realclearpolicy.com/2019/12/24/krystal_ball_the_antindashrachel_maddow_for_the_populist_age_43721.html)
## Breaking Points
In 2021, Ball and Enjeti left The Hill to start their own franchise on YouTube and via podcasts, a move Axios reported as part of a broader wave of pundits selling digital platforms as antidotes to institutional media.[1](https://www.axios.com/2021/07/06/corporate-media-backlash-upstarts) *Breaking Points* describes itself as a "fearless anti-establishment" daily show and podcast.[4](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breaking-points-media-bias) The launch was commercially immediate: nearly half a million subscribers in one month, a top-10 position among news podcasts on Apple Podcasts in the U.S., and at one point the second-most popular podcast overall, behind [Clay Travis](https://www.edgepedia.org/clay-travis) and [Buck Sexton](https://www.edgepedia.org/buck-sexton).[1](https://www.axios.com/2021/07/06/corporate-media-backlash-upstarts) Enjeti credited audience trust rather than an institutional brand as the keystone of the new media ecosystem, and acknowledged [Joe Rogan](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-rogan)'s role in creating the environment in which the show could thrive.[1](https://www.axios.com/2021/07/06/corporate-media-backlash-upstarts)
**The show expanded beyond its two founders.** Ryan Grim, bringing an investigative background from [The Intercept](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-intercept), and [Emily Jashinsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-jashinsky), described as a principled conservative from The Federalist, joined as hosts on certain days.[8](https://pixelation.org/the-krystal-ball-breaking-points-era-why-independent-media-actually-exploded-1vdm) The show is distributed on YouTube and podcast platforms with a paid premium tier, and its subscription page promises "no ads and absolutely zero corporate sponsors."[9](https://modpol.org/media/breaking-points/) Guests have ranged from [Bernie Sanders](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernie-sanders) to JD Vance, and the show's stated goal, in one account of its ethos, is to be "pro-worker" rather than neutral.[8](https://pixelation.org/the-krystal-ball-breaking-points-era-why-independent-media-actually-exploded-1vdm)
## Krystal Kyle & Friends
Ball also co-hosts *Krystal Kyle & Friends* with [Kyle Kulinski](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyle-kulinski), host of Secular Talk on YouTube and her husband, covering politics and philosophy in long-form conversations.[3](https://muckrack.com/krystalball) • [10](https://krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/about) The show is 100 percent ad free and funded entirely by subscribers, with paid subscribers receiving the video version a day early.[10](https://krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/about)
## Political positioning and ratings
Ball identifies with the progressive left, in counterpoint to Enjeti's populist right perspective; the two co-authored *The Populist's Guide to 2020*.[4](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breaking-points-media-bias) Third-party assessments of the show diverge in method and conclusion. AllSides rated *Breaking Points* Center with a bias meter value of −0.86 in an April 2026 Small Group Editorial Review, noting that reviewers characterized the show's perspective as populist rather than partisan, critical of establishment institutions and of both Democratic and Republican politicians; AllSides states it has low or initial confidence in that rating.[4](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breaking-points-media-bias) Media Bias/Fact Check, rating Ball individually, classifies her as Left with "Mostly Factual" factual reporting.[5](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/krystal-ball-bias-rating/)
Her interviews have generated repeated press coverage for on-air clashes with figures across the spectrum, including RFK Jr. over his anti-vaccine stance and Representative Elissa Slotkin over Israel aid.[11](https://www.mediaite.com/tag/krystal-ball/) In a 2025 podcast interview with Fox Nation host [Tomi Lahren](https://www.edgepedia.org/tomi-lahren), Ball corrected Lahren's claim that [Bad Bunny](https://www.edgepedia.org/bad-bunny) "is not an American artist" by noting that [Puerto Ricans](https://www.edgepedia.org/puerto-ricans) are American; the clip spread widely on social media.[12](https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-host-reveals-stunning-ignorance-on-us-citizenship/)
## References
1. [Corporate media backlash fuels new upstarts, Axios (July 6, 2021)](https://www.axios.com/2021/07/06/corporate-media-backlash-upstarts)
2. [Krystal Ball: From scandal star to professional pundit, The Washington Post (September 2011)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/krystal-ball-from-scandal-star-to-professional-pundit/2011/09/09/gIQAK8VyKK_story.html)
3. [Krystal Ball's Profile, Muck Rack](https://muckrack.com/krystalball)
4. [Breaking Points Media Bias, AllSides](https://www.allsides.com/news-source/breaking-points-media-bias)
5. [Krystal Ball Bias Rating, Media Bias/Fact Check](https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/krystal-ball-bias-rating/)
6. [Krystal Ball on How To Fix American Politics and Media, Current Affairs](https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/krystal-ball)
7. [Krystal Ball: the Anti–Rachel Maddow for the Populist Age, RealClearPolicy (2019)](https://www.realclearpolicy.com/2019/12/24/krystal_ball_the_antindashrachel_maddow_for_the_populist_age_43721.html)
8. [The Krystal Ball Breaking Points Era: Why Independent Media Actually Exploded, Pixelation](https://pixelation.org/the-krystal-ball-breaking-points-era-why-independent-media-actually-exploded-1vdm)
9. [Breaking Points, ModPol media directory](https://modpol.org/media/breaking-points/)
10. [About, Krystal Kyle & Friends (Substack)](https://krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/about)
11. [krystal ball tag page, Mediaite](https://www.mediaite.com/tag/krystal-ball/)
12. [Fox Host Reveals Stunning Ignorance on U.S. Citizenship, The Daily Beast (2025)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-host-reveals-stunning-ignorance-on-us-citizenship/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcasters as people › Broadcast journalists and news presenters › American broadcast journalists and news presenters › MSNBC journalists and anchors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license