The Bottom Line

Former US President Donald Trump had a lifelong habit of ripping up papers he was done with and throwing them on the floor, or in the rubbish, or stuffing them in his pockets.

By law, US presidents are required to hand over any papers they touched to the National Archives at the end of their service.

Trump has come under scrutiny because many of his papers were torn up and pieced together with tape, and archivists are not sure what he left out.

Host Steve Clemons speaks with Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey, lawyer Anne Weismann, and government professor David Barker.

Russia has beefed up its military presence all along its border with Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin insists that Kyiv must remain firmly in the Russian sphere of influence.

Europe and the United States say there would be huge repercussions for Moscow if it invades Ukraine, and want Kyiv to lean more to the West.

For US President Joe Biden, the test is how to project strength after the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Host Steve Clemons speaks to former US special representative to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, about possible scenarios for the region and the political calculations of Putin and Biden.

In less than a year, US President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have sunk from a high of 57 percent in January 2021 to a low of 40 percent this January.

His attempt to pass the Build Back Better Act, which includes plans for a social and economic overhaul of the US, failed. As did the Democratic push to pass sweeping election reform.

Now, Biden must contend with inflation, a coronavirus surge and the geopolitical crisis in Ukraine.

Host Steve Clemons asks Democratic strategists Simon Rosenberg and Nomiki Konst what Biden has to do to recharge his party and his own popularity.

Ever since January 2002, the US prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has become synonymous for many with abuse of prisoners and disregard for the rule of law.

Of its 39 remaining prisoners, 18 are cleared for release, but waiting for a country to take them.

Is there hope that this jail will be shut down under US President Joe Biden? Host Steve Clemons asks lawyer John Bellinger III, one of the top legal advisers to the White House and State Department during the establishment of “Gitmo” in the Bush administration; and Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security.

Economists call it "The Great Resignation".

It started last April when the number of Americans who quit their jobs broke all records. This is not about a few people resigning here and there. Instead, every month, millions of Americans wake up one day and quit.

The seismic shift in the labour market is wreaking havoc everywhere from restaurants to hospitals, with millions of jobs unfilled.

What do employers need to know if they want to attract and keep workers? Have employee-labour relations changed forever? Host Steve Clemons speaks with Upwork chief economist Adam Ozimek and University of California law professor Veena Dubal.

Even a year later, most Americans cannot agree on what to call the events that took place on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol.

The Democratic Party and most media call it an “insurrection", an attempted coup against a democratically elected government. Most Republicans reject that designation, admitting it was foolhardy, but not worthy of exaggeration.

But does the acrimony and mistrust between Americans threaten future elections as well?

Host Steve Clemons speaks with Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro, who barricaded himself in his office on that day, and Republican strategist John Feehery about the lasting effects of January 6.

In 2015, as the United States tightened its immigration policies under President Barak Obama, then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Germany to one million refugees.

And while former US President Donald Trump told the world that the coronavirus would fade away as the weather warms up, she told the world – as a mother and a scientist – to take it seriously.

At the same time, Germany's far right skyrocketed in popularity during her tenure.

Host Steve Clemons speaks with Kati Marton, author of The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel, to find out more about what she leaves behind.

If you are in the market for a coffin from the time of the Pharaohs in Egypt, or gold from the Inca Empire, you have come to the right place.

The United States is a major hub for the illicit trade in ancient artefacts. Buyers and sellers can take advantage of lax regulations to make deals on statues from Yemen or clay tablets from Babylonia fairly easily.

Shawnee State University Professor Amr al-Azm and Antiquities Coalition founder Deborah Lehr tell host Steve Clemons about their efforts to curtail the artefacts flooding to the West from all corners of the globe.

What started with one case in Wuhan in 2019 has led to five million deaths worldwide, with more than 800,000 in the United States alone.

And with a virus that mutates so quickly, no one knows when the COVID-19 pandemic will become as endemic as the seasonal flu.

In the meantime, "vaccine apartheid" means rich countries have abundant supplies of vaccines while most of the world has none - only prolonging the pandemic for everyone.

Host Steve Clemons talks to Dr Eric Topol, a scientist at Scripps Research, about the future of coexistence with COVID.

Every year hundreds of books are removed from school reading lists and public libraries across the United States.

Since the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, books dealing with racism are increasingly the target of conservative parents and lobbying groups.

Even more insidious are efforts to ban freedom of thought on issues such as Palestine. Author Golbarg Bashi faced death threats, cancelled speaking engagements, and financial and social pressures after writing a children’s book, P is for Palestine, in 2017.

Join Steve Clemons and his panel for this conversation about the future of intellectual freedoms in the US.