The week before her new memoir hits shelves, Malala Yousafzai greeted me in her Manhattan hotel lobby with the easy calm of someone who’s lived a dozen lives before 28. Around us, the space buzzed with business travelers and rolling suitcases, but she was easy company—warm, thoughtful, quick to laugh.
In her new book, Finding My Way, Yousafzai sheds the halo that’s long surrounded her name. She writes about Oxford nights and essay crises, friendship and therapy, panic attacks and romance. Part coming-of-age memoir, part reclamation, it’s a portrait of a woman who has learned that courage isn’t just about defying extremists, but also about allowing yourself to be ordinary.
We discussed these topics, and more, at length when we sat down to talk earlier this week. This is our conversation.
