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Fresh Air Weekend: Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai; Actor Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac plays the manager of a country club in Season 2 of Beef. He's shown above at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 30, 2025.
Emma McIntyre
/
Getty Images for SCAD
Oscar Isaac plays the manager of a country club in Season 2 of Beef. He's shown above at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 30, 2025.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, as well as new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and it often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Malala Yousafzai on life before and after being shot by a Taliban gunman: As a teen, Yousafzai risked her life speaking out against the Taliban. "At the time, what scared me more was a life without an education as a girl," the Nobel-winner told Terry Gross at a live event.

Three playful spring novels feature spunky heroines and edgy social commentary: Complicated, gutsy and entertaining: Maureen Corrigan reviews Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke; American Fantasy, by Emma Straub; and Enormous Wings, by Laurie Frankel.

Oscar Isaac struggled with Beef. So he turned to Frankenstein for help: In Season 2 of Beef, Isaac plays Josh, a country club manager whose life is unraveling. He got into character by imagining how Victor Frankenstein would feel trapped inside Josh's "small life."

You can listen to the original interviews here:

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