Krystal Ball was once an MSNBC star. Now she’s one of the few mainstream media figures who gets why Bernie Sanders matters and why liberal professionals shouldn’t be allowed to dominate progressive politics. She grew up in King George County, Virginia, where she still lives, commuting an hour and a half to work. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a degree in economics, she moved to East Liverpool, Ohio, once known as “the pottery capital of the world,” a time Ball calls “most influential for me, politically.”