Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

Episode Title: Bannon Praises Ryan, Hegseth Boat Strikes, Pentagon Press Clowns & MORE!
Date: December 5, 2025
Hosts: Emily Jashinsky, Ryan Grim, Crystal Ball, Macaulay Holmes
Podcast by: iHeartPodcasts

Episode Overview

This Friday edition of Breaking Points, hosted by Emily Jashinsky, Ryan Grim, Crystal Ball, and Macaulay Holmes (with Krystal and Saagar out), delivers a wide-ranging, lively discussion on anti-establishment stories dominating the headlines. The crew starts with Ryan Grim’s surprising appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room, then examines controversial US strikes in Venezuela and the shifting stance of the right on foreign policy. They expose troubling developments inside the Pentagon press corps, provide analysis about the newly-arrested January 6th pipe bomber, and critique Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s recent public comments on surveillance, civil liberties, capitalism, and working-class issues. The episode is sharp, irreverent, and unapologetically critical of power, especially where media and government intersect.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ryan Grim on Steve Bannon’s Show: Media Alliances & Ironies

[02:27–07:49]

• The show opens with a light roast of Ryan Grim, who appeared as a guest on Steve Bannon's War Room, being mock-accused of needing to “apologize” for fraternizing with right-wing populists.
• Ryan reflects: It was valuable to bring his reporting to Bannon’s massive audience, especially on UK Labour leader Keir Starmer’s media suppression tactics against both left and right independent outlets, undermining Corbynism and alternative media.
  • “He finishes talking about me being tough as boot leather, which is just comical coming from Bannon—an awfully leathery dude. So he would know.” — Ryan Grim [04:23]
• Ryan clarifies he didn’t softball Bannon or dodge tough questions and shared that he's a “longtime listener, first time” guest.
• The panel jokes about cross-ideological alliances and left-right populism—“MAGA Communism”—noting how strange bedfellows the political tumult has made.

2. Venezuela Strikes & the Right’s Foreign Policy Drift

[10:33–19:22]

• The team covers escalating US boat strikes in Venezuela, with Pentagon spokesperson Pete Hegseth seemingly responding directly to requests from Turning Point USA (TPUSA) figures on social media.
  • “Your wish is our command, Andrew—just sunk another narco boat.”
• Ryan notes the shift within right-wing populism: once-dovish figures like Charlie Kirk and TPUSA now appear to cheer military interventions, despite Trump-era calls for “America First” isolationism.
  • “It doesn’t feel like the America First world is objecting. They’re all…pretty much fine with it.” — Crystal Ball [13:52]
• The hosts warn of déjà vu with the Iraq War—questioning if average Republicans, increasingly wary of foreign entanglements, will finally balk if this escalates into a full regime-change.
• Mac asks: Will regime change in Venezuela finally split the right? Crystal suggests only a direct, ground-warfare escalation would lead to backlash.

3. Pentagon Press Corps “Clown Show”: Journalism, Influence, and Access

[19:22–32:58]

• The crew sharply critiques changes at the Pentagon press office, now filled with “influencers” replacing experienced journalists. New members have signed unprecedented agreements not to “report negative information.”
• “What they agreed to…is that they would not ask anybody other than authorized Pentagon officials for information—like, that’s absurd.” — Ryan Grim [21:38]
• The new generation brags about not needing journalism degrees, but Ryan argues they fundamentally misunderstand journalism and source relationships.
• The panel worries about conflicts of interest—some influencer-reporters could be on defense contractor payrolls but have easy Pentagon access.
• A funny, concerning moment arises when Mac notes someone tweeted, “I just spoke to Pete Hegseth, it was off the record, but it was a great conversation,” missing basic media ethics.
  • “We might accidentally get some real news out of these guys!” — Macaulay Holmes [24:33]

Memorable Moment: The “Slurring Pentagon Official”

• They play a Pentagon press audio clip featuring Matt Gaetz grilling a slurring official about the poor performance of the F-35 fighter jet—a moment the show treats with both amusement and concern over government accountability.
  • “I think Gaetz is exactly right: the F-35 is trash, a gigantic boondoggle and another ripoff.” — Ryan Grim [27:53]

4. January 6th Pipe Bomber Arrest: Narrative Wars & Skepticism

[35:39–53:06]

• Emily breaks down the sudden arrest of Brian Cole for the January 6th pipe bomb incident, observing the FBI used basic investigative tools (cell pings, credit cards) long available to them.
• The panel notes right-wing figures like Cash Patel and Dan Bongino claim the FBI merely re-sifted old evidence.
• Discussion pivots to right-wing and anti-FBI narratives:
  • Did the FBI bury evidence of Antifa involvement to protect an “insurrection” narrative?
  • “Fedtifa” conspiracies—was Cole an FBI asset or linked to larger federal operations?
  • “It seems too strange these things were there and nobody saw them for 15 hours. ... There’s some more weirdness happening.” — Crystal Ball [51:17]
• The group maintains journalistic skepticism about all federal prosecutions:
  • “We should be demanding extraordinary evidence when claims are made…” — Ryan Grim [44:59]

5. Palantir, Surveillance Capitalism, and the Cult of the Tech CEO

[53:06–68:49]

• The show dissects Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s off-the-wall remarks at the DealBook Summit.
• “He’s our philosopher king, right? ...the surveillance God we deserve.” — Ryan Grim [55:37]
• Karp rails against institutional distrust, boasts how competitors “copy Palantir,” and minimizes the impact of internal dissent, dismissing critics as “the humanities department.”
• Crystal and Ryan explain: While Karp claims Palantir promotes civil liberties, the company’s core product is government mass surveillance—often for ICE, the Pentagon, and law enforcement.
• A deeply dissonant moment: Karp calls Palantir a champion of the working class, despite its ties to repressive policing and military tech.
  • “At Palantir, we are on the side of working-class Americans…we save their lives, we bring them home safer. Our AI makes workers more wealthy...” — Alex Karp [63:35]
• Panel reactions:
  • “How do you go from mass incarceration to ‘we’re making Americans wealthier’?” — Mac [64:54]
  • “All productivity gains have flowed to people like Alex Karp… I don’t see how he can make that claim with a straight face.” — Ryan Grim [65:36]
• The team comments on the “celebrification” of billionaire CEOs and the normalization of public self-justification by those running controversial enterprises (“CEO cult celebrities”).

Selected Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “He finishes talking about me being tough as boot leather, which is just comical coming from Bannon—an awfully leathery dude. So he would know.”
  — Ryan Grim [04:23]
• “There’s a big opening. Normal Trump voters are like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, why are we doing this?’”
  — Crystal Ball [13:52]
• “You either have to go with the normie conservatives or the fringe bigots to get criticism of Trump…and I feel like there’s a big opening.”
  — Crystal Ball [13:52]
• “What they agreed to in this document…is that they would not ask anybody other than authorized Pentagon officials for information—like, that’s absurd.”
  — Ryan Grim [21:38]
• “We might accidentally get some news out of these guys!”
  — Macaulay Holmes [24:33]
• “I think Gaetz is exactly right: the F-35 is trash, a gigantic boondoggle and another ripoff.”
  — Ryan Grim [27:53]
• “We should be demanding extraordinary evidence when claims are made…you can’t believe what’s in an indictment just because the feds put it there.”
  — Ryan Grim [44:59]
• “He’s our philosopher king, right? ...the surveillance God we deserve.”
  — Ryan Grim [55:37]
• “All productivity gains have flowed to people like Alex Karp… I don’t see how he can make that claim with a straight face.”
  — Ryan Grim [65:36]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Ryan Grim on Bannon/Starmer story: 02:27–07:49
• Venezuela strikes & right-wing response: 10:33–19:22
• Pentagon press corps/Influencer “reporters” segment: 19:22–32:58
• January 6th pipe bomber arrest analysis: 35:39–53:06
• Palantir / Karp commentary: 53:06–68:49

Conclusion

This episode is a whirlwind through media, foreign policy, state secrecy, and the strangeness of 2025 American politics. The hosts dissect how power brokers—whether politicians, influencers, or tech billionaires—attempt to redefine accountability and transparency, and how independent journalism must respond. For listeners seeking unvarnished analysis, irreverence, and pressing skepticism, it's a hallmark Breaking Points discussion that captures the surreal contradictions of contemporary power.