Tuesday night’s conversation also touched on “Finding My Way,” Yousafzai’s latest book, an account of growing beyond being labeled “the bravest girl in the world.”
In her chat with Gross, Yousafzai opened up about staying true to her activist ideals and her cultural heritage while also navigating friendships, independence and love.
Now 28, Yousafazai is married, something she said she had been adamantly opposed to all her life.
“I hated marriage,” she said. “Even in college, I was telling my friends that I will never get married. I discouraged all of my friends from getting married.”
“I was the first one in my friend group to get married,” she said.
Yousafzai met her husband, Asser Malik, a Pakistani cricket team manager living in England, and bonded over their common love of sports. They were married in 2021. Last year, they founded Recess Capital, an investment initiative supporting gender equity in athletics.
“I think you’re really an inspiration for the work that you do, for the risk that you take,” Gross told Yousafzai. “But also believing in living a full life that welcomes joy and love and fun and sports, and being a full human being while participating in your activism.”