After episodes with former US president Barack Obama and actor George Clooney, David Letterman sat down with Malala Yousafzai to discuss her activism and life as a college student in the latest episode of his Netflix talk show.
Jumping between a live discussion with Malala on his signature stage in New York and at Oxford University, where he goes to meet the Nobel-Laureate, the latest episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction found Letterman teasing out details from the 2012 attack that gave Malala’s activism a global stage and attempting to learn more about her ambitions after her first term in college.
“We were not expecting that they would target [or] try to kill a child,” Malala said about the 2012 attack. “I don’t remember the incident, which is good in a sense because I don’t have to look back. I was in a different world; I did not know that hundreds of thousands of people were speaking out… all I was thinking about was going back to Pakistan.â€
The activist pondered on whether there were reasons for the attack and whether it was on purpose when the host asked her.
“I think there might be but even if there isn’t, you yourself can make a decision,†Malala said.
The episode also had its fair share of comic relief in between conversations – all in David Letterman’s signature humour – which kept the episode light at the right places. Out of all those moments, a game of ‘this or that’ remained the most entertaining.
“Pizzas or Tacos,†Letterman questioned. The activist had trouble with “pizza or tacos,” saying that she doesn’t like either and eats pizza only when she has to because her friends like it. And on “Kanye or Jay-Z,” she noted that she likes the “latest songs” but never looks to see who made it. When Letterman jokingly asked her whether she prefers the Yankees or the Mets, Yousafzai revealed that she has joined Oxford’s cricket club.
At the end of the episode, Malala asked Letterman if she could ask him a few questions, which he accepted. “Beard or no beard?” she joked.
