Spencer Bailey

Spencer Bailey
Born (1985-08-18) August 18, 1985
Denver, Colorado
Alma materDickinson College,
Columbia University
OccupationsWriter, editor, journalist, podcast host
SpouseEmma Bowen (m. 2023)[1]

Spencer Bailey (born August 18, 1985) is an American writer, editor, journalist, and podcast host. He is founder and editor-in-chief of The Slowdown and host of Time Sensitive. He previously served as editor-in-chief of Surface magazine.[2]

Early life

Bailey was born and raised in Denver, Colorado.[3]

United Airlines Flight 232

On July 19, 1989, a month before his fourth birthday, Bailey survived the crash landing of United Airlines Flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa.[4] His brother Brandon also survived, but their mother, Frances, was one of the 112 passengers who died.[4] Bailey was in a five-day coma following the crash, and he has no memory of the event.[5] Bailey's twin brother, Trent, and their father, Brownell, were not on the plane.[6]

Bailey is the subject of a famous photograph by Gary Anderson showing Lt. Colonel Dennis Nielsen carrying him to safety.[4] A statue based on the picture is part of the Flight 232 Memorial in Sioux City's riverfront development.[7]

Bailey has said that surviving the crash has shaped his perspective on time and memory, recurring themes in his writing and interviews.[8]

Education

Bailey graduated from Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut, in 2004. He received a B.A. in English from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 2008 and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2010.[9] He wrote his Dickinson College thesis about Philip Larkin as a jazz poet.[10]

In 2009, he was a student in a fiction-writing seminar taught by Gordon Lish.[3] He has credited the Lish workshop as "central to my journey as a writer and editor."[11]

Career

2009–2010: Early work

In 2009 and 2010, Bailey interned in the editorial departments at Esquire and Vanity Fair.[9]

2010–2014: Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times Magazine

From 2010 to 2013, Bailey was a frequent contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek, and from 2011 to 2014, The New York Times Magazine.[9]

Reporting for The New York Times Magazine, in October 2011, he spent a night at Zucotti Park and a nearby McDonald's during the Occupy Wall Street movement.[12][13] Over the next three years, he interviewed authors, celebrities, politicians, and cultural figures such as Tony Hawk,[14] Rodney King,[15] Cyndi Lauper,[16] Yoko Ono,[17] and Al Sharpton[18] for a "How to ..." column.[2] Bailey's interview with Rodney King was one of King's last before his fiancée found him dead at the bottom of a swimming pool.[19]

2010–2018: Surface Media

From May to August 2010, Bailey worked at The Daily Beast, and in September 2010 he was hired as assistant editor at Surface magazine.[9]

In 2013, at age 27, Bailey became editor-in-chief of Surface.[9] During his tenure, Surface broadened its editorial scope beyond the design industry while evolving from a magazine into a broader media company.[20] At Surface, Bailey interviewed hundreds of leading architects, artists, designers, and cultural figures, including Tadao Ando,[21] Frank Gehry,[22] Zaha Hadid,[23] Renzo Piano,[24] Ian Schrager,[25] and Kanye West,[26] and created the Design Dialogues conversation series.[27] His interview with West, published in the December 2016/January 2017 issue, was covered internationally. Billboard called it "thoughtful."[28]

In 2017, Bailey was named editorial director of Surface Media.[29] In 2018, he announced he was leaving Surface Media.[30][31]

2018–Present: The Slowdown

In 2018, Bailey was named a contributing editor at Town & Country, where he covers architecture and design,[32] and joined the book publisher Phaidon as editor-at-large.[33]

In 2019, with Andrew Zuckerman, Bailey co-founded The Slowdown, an independent media company known for long-view storytelling through its Time Sensitive podcast, newsletters, books, and other editorial projects exploring art, architecture, design, travel, and culture.[34][35][36][37] In 2023, Bailey became the sole owner of the company.[20] Writing about The Slowdown in 2024, Galerie magazine highlighted it as a media platform emphasizing attention, reflection, and the value of time.[38]

On Time Sensitive, Bailey interviews artists, architects, writers, poets, chefs, musicians, scientists, and other figures across culture about how time has shaped their lives and work. Guests have included fashion designer Gabriela Hearst,[39] author and translator Jhumpa Lahiri,[40] poet and playwright Claudia Rankine,[41] architect John Pawson,[42] and artist and photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto.[43]

From 2020 to 2023, The Slowdown also produced the At a Distance podcast, co-hosted by Bailey, which in 2021 was turned into a book, At a Distance: 100 Visionaries at Home in a Pandemic.[44] Guests on the show included Bill McKibben, Tatiana Schlossberg, Suzanne Simard, Rebecca Solnit, and Bessel van der Kolk.[45]

In October 2020, Phaidon published Bailey’s book In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials,[46] which features more than 60 memorials commemorating some of the most destructive events of the 20th and 21st centuries, including war, genocide, massacres, terrorism, famine, and slavery. The book was named a Literary Hub "favorite book of the year"[47] and a Financial Times "best book of 2020."[48]

In 2024, The Leading Hotels of the World announced that it had named Bailey editor-in-chief of a five-year, five-volume book series, with The Slowdown overseeing the editorial direction of the entire project.[49]

Bibliography

  • Tham ma da: The Adventurous Interiors of Paola Navone (Pointed Leaf Press, 2016)[50]
  • In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials (Phaidon, 2020)[46]
  • At a Distance: 100 Visionaries at Home in a Pandemic (Apartamento, 2021)[44]
  • Alchemy: The Material World of David Adjaye (Phaidon, 2023)[51]
  • Design: The Leading Hotels of the World (Monacelli, 2024)[52]
  • Culture: The Leading Hotels of the World (Monacelli, 2025)[53]
  • Explore: The Leading Hotels of the World (Monacelli, 2026)[54]

References

  1. ↑ "Two months to the day..." Instagram. January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Spencer Bailey". spencerbailey.com. July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "IN DIALOGUE // SPENCER BAILEY & TRENT DAVIS BAILEY".
  4. 1 2 3 "Flight 232: Snapshots of tragedy and triumph". Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "3-Year-Old Survived Infamous Plane Crash as Mom Shielded Him and Brother: 'We Were the Last Thing She Was Holding Onto'". Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  6. ↑ "Spencer Bailey, alive and well and ... a journalist, of course". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  7. ↑ Flight 232 Memorial and Statue – Sioux City, IA.
  8. ↑ "Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Spencer Bailey".
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Spencer Bailey LinkedIn".
  10. ↑ "Spencer Bailey, editor, New York".
  11. ↑ "Open Minds".
  12. ↑ "Occupying McDonald's, About 4:30 A.M., Near Zuccotti Park, New York". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ "169. Spencer Bailey | Scratching the Surface". scratchingthesurface.fm. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  14. ↑ "How to Take a Risk". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ "How to Find Inner Peace". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ "How to Stay Famous". The New York Times.
  17. ↑ "How to Tell Your Own Story". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ "How to Give a Speech". The New York Times.
  19. ↑ "What Rodney King Said During One of His Final Interviews". spencerbailey.com. nytimes.com. July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  20. 1 2 Burrichter, Felix (2025-07-23). "Slow and Steady: An Interview with The Slowdown's Spencer Bailey". PIN-UP. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  21. ↑ "The Eternal Tadao Ando". Surface. February 1, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Frank Gehry Is Still Building His Legacy". Surface. November 2, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  23. ↑ "Legends: Zaha Hadid". Article. Surface. March 31, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Renzo Piano". Surface. September 17, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Ian Schrager's Massive Appeal". Surface. June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Kanye West: Free Form". Surface. November 20, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Design Dialogues No. 2". August 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  28. ↑ "Watch Kanye West's Thoughtful Interview on the Music Industry, Emojis & Design With 'Surface' Magazine". Billboard.
  29. ↑ "Surfaces Promotes Spencer Bailey".
  30. ↑ "Why I'm Leaving Surface Media After Eight Incredible Years". 24 November 2018.
  31. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Surface Magazine Lands $2M in Seed Funding as EIC Departs". 4 May 2018.
  32. ↑ "Nina Garcia, Stellene Volandes Bulk Up Elle, Town & Country Mastheads". 17 July 2018.
  33. ↑ "Phaidon names Spencer Bailey as editor-at-large". 29 October 2018.
  34. ↑ "The Slowdown: Culture. Nature. Future".
  35. ↑ "Newsletter Archive".
  36. ↑ "Time Sensitive: A Podcast Featuring Leading Minds on Time".
  37. ↑ "Editorial Studio".
  38. ↑ "How Spencer Bailey Is Leading the Charge to "Slow Down" the Media Landscape".
  39. ↑ "Gabriela Hearst on Why Making Things That Stand the Test of Time Matters".
  40. ↑ "Jhumpa Lahiri on Translation as a Path to Self-Discovery".
  41. ↑ "Claudia Rankine on Confronting Whiteness Head-On Through Language".
  42. ↑ "John Pawson on Minimalism as a Way of Life".
  43. ↑ "Hiroshi Sugimoto on Photography as a Form of Timekeeping".
  44. 1 2 Apartamento. "At a Distance: 100 Visionaries at Home in a Pandemic". Apartamento.
  45. ↑ "At a Distance - Podcast".
  46. 1 2 Phaidon. "In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials". Phaidon. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  47. ↑ "Our 65 Favorite Books of the Year". Literary Hub. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  48. ↑ Heathcote, Edwin (2020-11-19). "Best books of 2020: Architecture and design". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  49. ↑ "Spencer Bailey Named Editor-in-Chief of a Five-Volume Book Series Celebrating The Leading Hotels of the World".
  50. ↑ Pointed Leaf Press. "Tham ma da: The Adventurous Interiors of Paola Navone". Pointed Leaf Press. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  51. ↑ Phaidon. "Alchemy: The Material World of David Adjaye". Phaidon.
  52. ↑ Phaidon. "Design: The Leading Hotels of the World". Phaidon.
  53. ↑ Phaidon. "Culture: The Leading Hotels of the World". Phaidon.
  54. ↑ Phaidon. "Explore: The Leading Hotels of the World". Phaidon.
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