Susie Banikarim

3 weeks ago | thedailybeast.com | Susie Banikarim |William Vaillancourt |Michael Daly |Noor Ibrahim

Carlos Watson was on his way to the federal correctional facility in Lompoc, California—to serve an almost 10 year prison sentence—when President Donald Trump saved him. Just hours before Watson was to surrender last Friday, he heard that Trump had commuted his sentence. The order also meant he would no longer have to pay $96 million in restitution and forfeiture. It was an extraordinary plot twist for Watson.

Jun 10, 2024 | cjr.org | Josh Hersh |Betsy Morais |Susie Banikarim |Maddy Crowell

It’s another election season, and we’re in reruns. Donald Trump, the first convicted-felon former president, is carrying on at rallies as ever, repeating the word “rigged.” Joe Biden, America’s oldest president, is mostly staying home, also as before. The world rages with war; stateside, democracy feels imperiled. “We’re just kind of over it,” Noemi Peña, a twenty-year-old from Tucson, told the Wall Street Journal in March.

Jun 10, 2024 | cjr.org | Susie Banikarim

From the moment he rode down that gilded escalator at Trump Tower to announce his 2016 presidential bid, Donald Trump has challenged television media in unprecedented ways. Initially, he seemed like a gift—a reality TV star and tabloid fixture with an almost absurdist approach to campaigning, who would say anything, on any show, at any time.

Mar 21, 2024 | podcasts.apple.com | Jordan Crucchiola |Susie Banikarim |Marissa Flaxbart

A veteran journalist's changing views on a 2000s classic journalism film (yes, it's a journalism film!)