“One thing that was pretty eye-opening to me was that red pepper came from the New World in the 15th or 16th century. So these things that we think of as inherently Korean actually have an even longer history than that.”

American musician, singer, songwriter, and author

Michelle Zauner is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author, best known as the lead singer of the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. She is also known for her memoir Crying in H Mart, published in 2021. Her memoir spent 60 weeks on The New York Times hardcover non-fiction bestseller list. In 2022, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in its Innovators category, reflecting her reach beyond music into writing and public culture.