Desert Island Discs

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Desert Island Discs: Malala Yousafzai, activist

Malala Yousafzai, activist.

Malala Yousafzai, activist

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Malala Yousafzai, activist

Malala Yousafzai, activist, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne.

Malala Yousafzai, activist, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Malala Yousafzai is an activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize when she was 17 - becoming the youngest winner in its history. Today she is known globally for her human rights advocacy and her ongoing campaign to ensure all children have equal access to education.

She was born in the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan where her father Ziauddin was a prominent activist who believed boys and girls should sit side by side in the classroom and co-founded a school which Malala attended. After the Taliban began to establish its presence in the Valley, day-to-day life became synonymous with danger and fear – people were taken from their homes and killed for speaking out against the regime. Education for girls was forbidden and schools were shut down or bombed.

In 2009 Malala began writing an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu in which she spoke out about what was happening in Swat Valley. This made her a target. In 2012 she was shot by a Taliban gunman as she sat on the school bus. Two girls sitting alongside her were also shot. What Malala calls ‘the incident’ generated headlines around the world. Her injuries were severe and she was airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. After a long and painful recovery she settled in Birmingham with her family.

Now 23, Malala graduated from the University of Oxford last year and continues to campaign globally for girls’ education through the Malala Fund which she co-founded with her father. 

DISC ONE: Rang by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Amjad Sabri    
DISC TWO: Shinwari Lawangeena by Zarsanga 
DISC THREE: Never Say Never by Justin Bieber 
DISC FOUR: Hum Dekhen Ge by Iqbal Bano 
DISC FIVE: All I Ask of You by Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton
DISC SIX: Kaari Kaari by Qurat Ul Ain Balouch
DISC SEVEN: Love Always Comes as a Surprise by Peter Asher    
DISC EIGHT: Bibi Sherina by Sardar Ali Takkar 
    
BOOK CHOICE:  Plato: Complete Works
LUXURY ITEM: Lip balm
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Hum Dekhen Ge by Iqbal Bano  

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Desert Island Discs

Malala Yousafzai, activist

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