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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Occupy camp in Los Angeles has become something of a microcosm of the city. Some differences are showing among people who call themselves the 99 Percent, homeless people clustered in an area called Skid Row. You find protesters with jobs in an area dubbed Westwood, an affluent community near UCLA. Gloria Hillard reports.

GLORIA HILLARD, BYLINE: Rain the night before has given way to a crisp and clear Los Angeles morning. Shelly Moss pulls a crocheted maroon sweater over her blond hair and adjusts her glasses.

Despite a constant flow of economic setbacks at home and abroad, the U.S. economy has been growing. But it hasn't been growing swiftly or adding many jobs. Steve Inskeep talks with David Wessel of The Wall Street Journal, and Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist, about how the U.S. will generate economic growth in the future.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The pro basketball season had been getting canceled a couple of weeks at a time, but now the entire season could be lost. Players rejected last night what the owners said was their best offer. And the players made a dramatic move as well. They actually disbanded as a union. We're going to talk about this with NPR's Mike Pesca. He joins us from the studios of our member station WBUR in Boston.

Mike, good morning.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hello.

INSKEEP: Hope WBUR is taking good care of you up there.

PESCA: They are.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York and soon protesters were pitching their tents across the country. Since then, protesters have been evicted from their campsites in Oakland, Calif., and in a number of other cities across the country.

Donald Glover is a truly multifaceted talent. He is a stand-up comedian. He has written for the NBC show 30 Rock and Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and has attracted significant attention for his role on the NBC show Community. As if that weren't enough, he also raps under the moniker Childish Gambino, and has just released a new album called Camp.

If you wanted a tablet but thought the price of an iPad was too steep, Amazon has a message for you. You can't afford NOT to buy yourself a Kindle Fire.

The new table sells for $199 — less than half the price of an iPad.

Amazon can sell for such a low price partly because it's willing to sell each Kindle Fire for less than it costs to produce.

As the U.S. winds down operations in Iraq, national security officials have a big decision to make: what to do with a senior explosives expert captured by American troops five years ago.

Ali Mussa Daqduq is accused of organizing a kidnapping in Iraq that left five U.S. service members dead. But authorities don't have the power to hold him indefinitely under the congressional authorization approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks because he's tied to Hezbollah, a militant group from Lebanon — not al-Qaida.

Opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, upset about the governor's move last spring to curb collective-bargaining rights for many public employees, are circulating petitions Tuesday in a campaign to recall him from office.

The Republican's critics will need to collect their signatures in the next 60 days.

Second in a three-part series

These days it can feel like the country is unsteady — politically, economically. In a search for the way forward, scholars and politicians often turn to their fundamental beliefs. NPR is taking a look at some of the most influential philosophers whose ideas molded the present and could shape the future. You might not know all their names, but you're certainly familiar with their ideas. They are woven into the fabric of our society.