Episode 36: Ro Khanna
This week, we spoke with Representative Ro Khanna about what’s possible for progressive Democrats in Congress, as well as what must be done to change the status quo upheld by the party establishment.
Krystal Kyle & Friends
Krystal Ball, cohost of Breaking Points podcast, and Kyle Kulinski, host of Secular Talk, dive into politics, philosophy and random BS with people they like.
Episodes
Episode 35: Matthew Hoh
Matthew Hoh is an outspoken critic of the U.S. military’s endless wars. We talk to him about his realizations and decision to leave the military, his advocacy against the war in Afghanistan, his political journey, and much more in this week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends.
Episode 34: Steven Donziger
We talk to human rights attorney Steven Donziger to get the full story of his landmark case against the fossil fuel giant Chevron.
Episode 33: Irami Osei-Frimpong
We sit down with your favorite Funky Academic, Irami Osei-Frimpong, to discuss the importance of institutional participation in our social and political lives, the illusion of choice that liberalism supports, and much more.
Episode 32: Senator Bernie Sanders
Krystal talks to Senator Bernie Sanders about his current work as Chairman of the Budget Committee, the new budget bill, his assessment of the Biden presidency, and more.
Episode 31: Dan Price
In 2015, Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, raised Gravity’s minimum yearly salary to $70k — and lowered his own salary to $70k from over a million dollars. In this week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends, we talk to Dan about this choice, from its catalyst to its effects.
Episode 30: Briahna Joy Gray
This week, we were lucky enough to invite Briahna Joy Gray, host of Bad Faith podcast and Current Affairs contributing editor, onto the show to talk about exploiting the cracks in the Democratic establishment.
Episode 29: Ismail Ali
This week's guest is Ismail Ali of MAPS [Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies], who tells us about the hidden history of drug criminalization.
Episode 28: Gabriel and John Shipton
This week, we were honored to hold a discussion with Gabriel and John Shipton, the brother and father of American hero Julian Assange. As we mention in our conversation, the violations of First Amendment rights and basic human rights that led to Assange’s incarceration have an impact on all of us.
Episode 27: Hasan Piker
Hasan Piker — you know him as HasanAbi, the wildly popular leftist Twitch streamer and commentator — joined us for this week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends.
Episode 26: Margaret and David Talbot
We brought David and Margaret Talbot onto the show to talk about their work unearthing and portraying leftist history.
Episode 25: Pete Davis
This week, we talked to Pete Davis, author of Dedication: The Case for Commitment. How well are we serving ourselves and our world by refusing to stand by what we believe in? And when there’s room for us to commit ourselves to these projects, how can we make the leap?
Episode 24: Rose McGowan
We’re honored to be joined by political activist and actress Rose McGowan for this week’s episode, discussing the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party, the culture of fear and violence in Hollywood, and the solidarity of the ruling class — from the CIA to the media.
Bonus Episode 23: Krystal and Saagar's Big News
In a special crossover episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends and Saagar’s podcast The Realignment, Krystal and Saagar reveal why they left The Hill and what they are planning moving forward.
Episode 22: Vaush
Vaush joins us on the show to discuss how leftists should regard the Biden presidency, the legacy of Bernie or Bust, supporting Palestine, and more.
Episode 21: Abby Martin
As continued Israeli violence against Palestinians led to a Palestinian general strike, we had the opportunity to speak with Abby Martin about mainstream coverage of the apartheid — and about how Israel, aided by the U.S.’s imperialist interests, has controlled the narrative.
Episode 20: Rania Khalek
Rania Khalek gave us her insight into Israel’s current ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, taking us through the past history of the Israeli occupation and the conditions of Israeli military rule.
Episode 19: James Suzman
We speak to author and anthropologist James Suzman about his compelling and thorough history of work, beginning at the dawn of the Stone Age and moving forward to an analysis of current labor conditions in our capitalist society.
Episode 18: Dr. Cornel West
It was an honor to be joined this week by Dr. Cornel West, celebrated author, philosopher, and professor, for a conversation about Dr. West’s political activism and personal journey.
Episode 17: Richard Wolff
Prominent Marxian economist and author Richard Wolff joins us on the show to discuss Modern Monetary Theory, how the Biden admin is measuring up to expectations, and even more.
Episode 16: Dan Kovalik
Author and longtime Steelworkers labor lawyer Dan Kovalik joined us on KK&F this week to talk cancel culture. Why does cancel culture matter? When should people be “cancelled,” and when is cancellation harmful to the left’s political goals?
Episode 15: Christopher Ryan
This week’s guest on KK&F is Christopher Ryan, an author and researcher on human sexuality. If you’re not familiar with his book Sex at Dawn , we hope you’ll enjoy watching our conversation with him, covering everything from the personal — are our brains wired for monogamy? — to the societal and political.
Episode 14: June Lapine (shoe0nhead)
This week, our friend June Lapine (you know her as Shoe0nHead) tells us about her political journey and radicalization among the online left, her personal journey as an online content creator, and why she’s glad she went for Bernie in 2016 — among many other things.
Episode 13: Andrew Yang
We sat down with Andrew Yang this week and dug into the million-dollar questions about his advocacy for a UBI and how that fight has changed in the last year, his stance on Medicare for All, his thoughts on the NYC political landscape, and more.
Episode 12: Matt Taibbi
We talk to Matt Taibbi, cohost of Useful Idiots, whose journalistic work has covered presidential campaigns from an outsider perspective, revealed the corporate evil at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, and more.
Episode 11: John Nichols
This week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends, featuring journalist and author John Nichols, turns to the history of American progressivism in order to understand how the left can analyze its opportunities in a Biden presidency and strategize to build institutional power.
Episode 10: Carl Hart
In this week’s conversation with Dr. Carl Hart, we dig into the topics of the U.S.’s racist and dysfunctional criminal justice system, the importance of personal freedoms, and the struggle to legalize drug usage.
Episode 9: Dylan Ratigan
Episode 9 of Krystal Kyle & Friends focuses on Dylan Ratigan’s critiques of money in politics, but in order to understand how Dylan became a populist who “flew under the radar” at institutions like MSNBC, we were also eager to hear about his upbringing and political journey. He absolutely didn’t disappoint.
Episode 8: Glenn Greenwald
For our eighth episode, we spoke with Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept and current author of the Glenn Greenwald Substack, to discuss his political work and his philosophical roots.
Episode 7: Krystal and Kyle
We discuss the impeachment proceedings and the confirmation hearing of Neera Tanden, as well as our own political journeys.