Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) has long turned to music to make sense of the past. Today, she joins us to unpack all of the emotional terrain covered in her latest album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women).

We discuss the literary (6:08) and musical (7:32) influences that shaped the new record, her transformative year spent living and writing in Korea (13:12), and the daily diary she kept while abroad (15:44). We then celebrate her late mother (18:56), her exploration of identity in Crying in H Mart (23:19), and the song “Heft” born out of that ongoing grief (29:49).

On the back half, Zauner recounts her breakout performance at SXSW (35:30) and unpacks her evolving relationship with her father in the wake of her mother’s passing (43:17), her plans for a second book (56:40), and how she’s coming into her own on this latest world-wide tour (58:02).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].

This episode was recorded at Spotify Studios.

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