Grunitzky’s own identity is expansive and diverse. He has lived in Togo, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His father was a powerful politician, and his mother a poor seamstress. They never married, and growing up, Grunitzky would spend weekdays in his father’s mansion and weekends with his mother in a humble home without running water. His interests today are eclectic: He’s a fan of the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, the political podcaster Ezra Klein, and the hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He considers himself “transcultural.”