Terry Gross

The Guardian's Gahaith Abdul-Ahad calls the Syrian battle fluid and complicated. "There is chaos, there is no military planning, there is no organization," he tells Fresh Air. He reported for the PBS Frontline documentary The Battle for Syria, which airs Tuesday.

Jeffrey Toobin's new book, The Oath, explores how President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts are at odds over constitutional law. Toobin tells Fresh Air that while Obama likes precedent when it comes to the Supreme Court, Roberts "wants to move the court in a dramatically new direction."

Director Fernando Trueba talks about his Oscar-nominated film Chico and Rita, which follows a part of lovers who leave Havana's music scene in the 1940s to head to New York City. It's now out on DVD.

The actor plays a righteous federal agent who succumbs to all sorts of temptations on the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. To build the character of Nelson Van Alden, he says, he worked out an elaborate back story about the agent's childhood. The third season starts Sunday.

Writer Michael Lewis was given unusual access to the president for six months for an article for Vanity Fair. Lets tells Fresh Air that he found a "weird disjuncture between his powers and his powerlessness."

Comic W. Kamau Bell's show, produced by Chris Rock, mixes standup, sketches and interviews. Bell tells Fresh Air about the origins of his political humor and why it's important for him to have a multiracial audience.

A center for scientists to study what helps dogs succeed in search-and-rescue operations opens Tuesday at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cynthia Otto, who created the center, and Annemarie DeAngelo, the center's training director, tells Fresh Air why they depend on their canine companions.

The actor stars in the comedy TV series The New Normal, about a gay couple who want a child so badly that they hire a surrogate. Rannells tells Fresh Air that he didn't want to "dumb down" the series role with "stereotypical over-the-top gay flash and sass."

Hal David, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning lyricist, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 91. David is best known for his many collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach between the late '50s and the mid-'70s.

Martin Bayne entered an assisted living facility at 53 after he was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's disease. Now he writes about long-term care reform. He tells Fresh Air about recording residents' final days and how death is handled "very poorly" in facilities.