Spencer Bailey
Spencer Bailey (born August 18, 1985) is an American writer, editor, and journalist. He has written at length about architecture, art, culture, design, and technology, among other subjects.[1]
Spencer Bailey | |
---|---|
Born | Denver, Colorado | August 18, 1985
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Dickinson College, Columbia University |
Occupation | Writer, editor, journalist |
Website | www |
Early life
Bailey was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He grew up with his brothers Brandon and Trent in a single-parent household.[2]
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.[3] His brother Brandon also survived the crash, but their mother, Frances, was one of the 111 passengers who died.[3] Bailey's brother Trent and their father, Brownell, were not on the plane.[4] Bailey is the subject of a famous photograph by Gary Anderson showing Lt. Colonel Dennis Nielsen carrying him to safety.[3] A statue based on the picture is part of the Flight 232 Memorial in Sioux City's riverfront development.[5]
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.[6]
In 2009, he studied fiction under Gordon Lish.[2]
Career
2009–2010: Early work
From January to May 2009, Bailey interned at Esquire.[6] From January to May 2010, while studying at Columbia, he interned at Vanity Fair.[6]
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.[6]
For his first assignment 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.[7] Over the next three years, he interviewed authors, celebrities, politicians, and cultural figures such as Al Sharpton,[8] Tony Hawk,[9] Rodney King,[10] and Cyndi Lauper[11] for a "How To ..." column.[1] 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.[12]
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.[6]
In June 2013, at age 27, Bailey became editor-in-chief of Surface.[6] With the July/August 2013 issue—Bailey’s first as editor—the magazine unveiled a major design overhaul created with the consultancy Noë & Associates.[13] At Surface, Bailey interviewed hundreds of leading architects, artists, designers, and cultural figures, including David Adjaye,[14] Tadao Ando,[15], Zaha Hadid,[16] Ian Schrager,[17] and Kanye West[18], and helped launch the Design Dialogues conversation series.[19] He conducted nearly 40 Design Dialogues talks from 2013 to 2018, including conversations with Michael Kimmelman and Annabelle Selldorf,[20] Stefan Sagmeister and Jeffrey Deitch,[21] and David Rockwell and Marcel Wanders.[22]
Prior to Bailey taking over as editor of Surface, the magazine was known for covering the "design world"; he pivoted it to covering the world through the lens of design, to appeal to a wider audience.[23] Several Surface interviews by Bailey garnered significant media attention, such as his conversation with real estate developer Aby Rosen, published in the June/July 2014 issue, in which Rosen called Tom Wolfe a "buffoon."[24] Bailey's interview with Kanye West, published in the December 2016/January 2017 issue, was covered internationally. Page Six described the conversation between Bailey and West "strange";[25] Billboard called it "thoughtful."[26]
In November 2016, Pointed Leaf Press published the book Tham ma da: The Adventurous Interiors of Paola Navone, which Bailey wrote and edited.
In January 2017, Bailey was named editorial director of Surface Media.[28] In May 2018, Bailey announced he was leaving Surface Media.[29][30]
2018–Present: Town & Country, Phaidon, The Slowdown
In July 2018, Bailey was named a contributing editor at Town & Country, where he covers architecture and design.[31] In October 2018, he joined the book publisher Phaidon as editor-at-large.[32]
In May 2019, Bailey co-founded and launched the media company The Slowdown with filmmaker, photographer, and creative director Andrew Zuckerman.[33][34] The Slowdown focuses on culture, nature, and the future, and produces a weekly newsletter exploring the five senses[35], as well as two podcasts, Time Sensitive[36] and At a Distance[37], which Bailey and Zuckerman co-host. On Time Sensitive, Bailey has interviewed guests including Teresita Fernández[38], Neri Oxman[39], David Duchovny[40], Rashid Johnson[41], and Suketu Mehta[42].
Slow Design and Slow Media
Bailey is a proponent for “Slow Design,” or, as he has put it, “design that’s timeless and made to last, and done thoughtfully, with intent, and with care for our planet.”[2]
Bailey has also advocated for “Slow Media.” “We need media that allows people to slow down, to turn inward, and to think about things on a deeper level,” he told Directions magazine in 2018.[43]
References
- "Spencer Bailey". spencerbailey.com. July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "IN DIALOGUE // SPENCER BAILEY & TRENT DAVIS BAILEY".
- "Flight 232: Snapshots of tragedy and triumph". Retrieved 30 March 2011.
- "Spencer Bailey, alive and well and ... a journalist, of course". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- Flight 232 Memorial and Statue – Sioux City, IA.
- "Spencer Bailey LinkedIn".
- "Occupying McDonald's, About 4:30 A.M., Near Zuccotti Park, New York".
- "How to Give a Speech".
- "How to Take a Risk".
- "How to Find Inner Peace".
- "How to Stay Famous".
- "What Rodney King Said During One of His Final Interviews". spencerbailey.com. nytimes.com. July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- (June, 2015). "Two Years Surface Magazine" Noë & Associates. Retrieved August 10, 2016
- "David Adjaye on Architecture, Africa, and Atmosphere". Surface. September 22, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "The Eternal Tadao Ando". Surface. February 1, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Legends: Zaha Hadid". Article. Surface. March 31, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Ian Schrager's Massive Appeal". Surface. June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Kanye West: Free Form". Surface. November 20, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Design Dialogues No. 2". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- "Surface and Pratt Design Dialogue with Annabelle Selldorf and Michael Kimmelman". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- "Pratt Presents Series Features Jeffrey Deitch and Stefan Sagmeister in Conversation". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- "Design Dialogues No. 20". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
- "The 60-second interview: Spencer Bailey, editor in chief of Surface magazine".
- Mohr, Ian. (June 3, 2014) "Aby Rosen blasts Tom Wolfe as ‘a buffoon’". Page Six. Retrieved August 10, 2016
- "Kanye gave strange interview before canceling tour dates".
- "Watch Kanye West's Thoughtful Interview on the Music Industry, Emojis & Design With 'Surface' Magazine".
- "Surfaces Promotes Spencer Bailey".
- "Why I'm Leaving Surface Media After Eight Incredible Years".
- "EXCLUSIVE: Surface Magazine Lands $2M in Seed Funding as EIC Departs".
- "Nina Garcia, Stellene Volandes Bulk Up Elle, Town & Country Mastheads".
- "Phaidon names Spencer Bailey as editor-at-large".
- "Introducing The Slowdown, a Conscious Entertainment Media Company".
- "The Slowdown: Culture. Nature. Future".
- "The Slowdown Newsletter".
- "Time Sensitive: A Podcast Featuring Leading Minds on Time".
- "At a Distance Podcast".
- "Teresita Fernández on the Violent Nature of the American Landscape".
- "Neri Oxman on Her Extraordinary Visions for the 'Biological Age'".
- "David Duchovny on the Climate Crisis, the Drawbacks of Technology, and the Craft of Writing".
- "Rashid Johnson on Escapism and Upending the Notion of the 'Monolithic Experience'".
- "Suketu Mehta on the Positively Profound Impact of Immigration on the Planet".
- "Spencer Bailey on the need for "slow media"".