Terry Gross

As Barack Obama's presidential campaign manager, David Plouffe was responsible for constructing an unprecedented grass-roots campaign. In his new book, The Audacity To Win: The Insside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory, Plouffe presents a behind-the-scenes look at a historic campaign.

With his band the Belmonts, singer-songwriter Dion rose to fame as a '60s teen idol, topping charts with hits like "The Wanderer" and "I Wonder Why." The latest album in his long career is Heroes: Giants Of Early Guitar Rock.

The renowned actor has graced the screen since TV's earliest days, though he's best known for playing Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Plummer's memoir, In Spite of Myself, will be released next week.

The hyper-literate indie quartet The Decemberists has been touring college campuses to help get out the vote next week. Lead singer Colin Meloy spoke to Fresh Air in 2007.

Journalist Robert Draper examines the connection between a presidential candidate's narrative and his ability to win voters' confidence in his recent New York Times Magazine article, "The Making (and Remaking) of McCain."

Unitarian minister Forrest Church was diagnosed with terminal esophageal cancer last February. He has written and edited over 20 books since 1985. His latest, Love and Death, is a memoir that confronts the fact of death and, in the process, offers readers a meditation on the end of life.

Iranian-American journalist Farnaz Fassihi was stationed in the Middle East from 2002 until 2006, where she covered the Iraq war and the daily struggles of the Iraqi people. She recounts her experiences in her memoir, Waiting for an Ordinary Day.

In This Republic Of Suffering, historian Drew Gilpin Faust reveals that the rate of death during the American Civil war was six times that of World War II — a fact which created a shared sense of suffering that helped the nation reunite after the war was over.

The New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer discusses The Dark Side, her nonfiction account of the Bush administration's anti-terror policies. Mayer has been nominated for a 2008 National Book Award for the work.