Wikipedia

Spencer Bailey

Spencer Bailey (born August 18, 1985) is an American writer, editor, journalist, and podcast host. He has written at length about architecture, art, culture, and design, among other subjects.[2]

Spencer Bailey
Born (1985-08-18) August 18, 1985 (age 39)
Denver, Colorado
NationalityAmerican
Alma materDickinson College,
Columbia University
Occupation(s)Writer, editor, journalist, podcast host
SpouseEmma Bowen (m. 2023)[1]

Early life

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

United Airlines Flight 232

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Main article: 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 the crash, but their mother, Frances, was one of the 112 passengers who died.[4] Bailey's brother Trent and their father, Brownell, were not on the plane.[5] 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.[6]

Education

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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.[7] He wrote his Dickinson College thesis about Philip Larkin as a jazz poet.[8]

In 2009, he was a student in a fiction-writing seminar taught by Gordon Lish.[3]

Career

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2009–2010: Early work

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In 2009 and 2010, Bailey interned in the editorial departments at Esquire and Vanity Fair.[7]

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

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From 2010 to 2013, Bailey was a frequent contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek, and from 2011 to 2014, The New York Times Magazine.[7]

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.[9][10] Over the next three years, he interviewed authors, celebrities, politicians, and cultural figures such as Al Sharpton,[11] Tony Hawk,[12] Rodney King,[13] and Cyndi Lauper[14] 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.[15]

2010–2018: Surface Media

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From May to August 2010, Bailey worked at The Daily Beast, and in September 2010 he was hired as assistant editor at Surface magazine.[7]

In June 2013, at age 27, Bailey became the editor-in-chief of Surface.[7] At Surface, he interviewed hundreds of leading architects, artists, designers, and cultural figures, including Tadao Ando,[16] Zaha Hadid,[17] Renzo Piano,[18] Ian Schrager,[19] and Kanye West,[20] and helped launch the Design Dialogues conversation series.[21] Bailey's interview with Kanye West, published in the December 2016/January 2017 issue, was covered internationally. Billboard called it "thoughtful."[22]

In January 2017, Bailey was named editorial director of Surface Media.[23] In May 2018, he announced he was leaving Surface Media.[24][25]

2018–Present: The Slowdown

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In 2018, Bailey was named a contributing editor at Town & Country, where he covers architecture and design,[26] and joined the book publisher Phaidon as editor-at-large.[27]

In May 2019, with Andrew Zuckerman, Bailey founded and launched the media company The Slowdown.[28] He hosts the Time Sensitive podcast,[29] on which he has interviewed artists, chefs, journalists, novelists, musicians, actors, and others, including the author and translator Jhumpa Lahiri,[30] the poet and playwright Claudia Rankine,[31] and the fashion designer Gabriela Hearst.[32]

In October 2020, Phaidon published Bailey’s book In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials,[33] which features more than 60 memorials commemorating some of the most destructive events of the 20th and 21st centuries, including war, genocide, massacre, terrorism, famine, and slavery. The book was named a Literary Hub "favorite book of the year"[34] and a Financial Times "best book of 2020."[35]

Bibliography

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  • Tham ma da: The Adventurous Interiors of Paola Navone (Pointed Leaf Press, 2016)[36]
  • In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials (Phaidon, 2020)[33]
  • At a Distance: 100 Visionaries at Home in a Pandemic (Apartamento, 2021)[37]
  • Alchemy: The Material World of David Adjaye (Phaidon, 2023)[38]
  • Design: The Leading Hotels of the World (Monacelli, 2024)[39]

References

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  1. ^ "Two months to the day..." Instagram. January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Spencer Bailey". spencerbailey.com. July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "IN DIALOGUE // SPENCER BAILEY & TRENT DAVIS BAILEY".
  4. ^ a b c "Flight 232: Snapshots of tragedy and triumph". Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  5. ^ "Spencer Bailey, alive and well and ... a journalist, of course". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  6. ^ Flight 232 Memorial and Statue – Sioux City, IA.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Spencer Bailey LinkedIn".
  8. ^ "Spencer Bailey, editor, New York".
  9. ^ "Occupying McDonald's, About 4:30 A.M., Near Zuccotti Park, New York". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "169. Spencer Bailey | Scratching the Surface". scratchingthesurface.fm. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  11. ^ "How to Give a Speech". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "How to Take a Risk". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "How to Find Inner Peace". The New York Times.
  14. ^ "How to Stay Famous". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "What Rodney King Said During One of His Final Interviews". spencerbailey.com. nytimes.com. July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  16. ^ "The Eternal Tadao Ando". Surface. February 1, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  17. ^ "Legends: Zaha Hadid". Article. Surface. March 31, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  18. ^ "Renzo Piano". Surface. September 17, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  19. ^ "Ian Schrager's Massive Appeal". Surface. June 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  20. ^ "Kanye West: Free Form". Surface. November 20, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  21. ^ "Design Dialogues No. 2". August 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  22. ^ "Watch Kanye West's Thoughtful Interview on the Music Industry, Emojis & Design With 'Surface' Magazine". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Surfaces Promotes Spencer Bailey".
  24. ^ "Why I'm Leaving Surface Media After Eight Incredible Years". 24 November 2018.
  25. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Surface Magazine Lands $2M in Seed Funding as EIC Departs". 4 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Nina Garcia, Stellene Volandes Bulk Up Elle, Town & Country Mastheads". 17 July 2018.
  27. ^ "Phaidon names Spencer Bailey as editor-at-large". 29 October 2018.
  28. ^ "The Slowdown: Culture. Nature. Future".
  29. ^ "Time Sensitive: A Podcast Featuring Leading Minds on Time".
  30. ^ "Jhumpa Lahiri on Translation as a Path to Self-Discovery".
  31. ^ "Claudia Rankine on Confronting Whiteness Head-On Through Language".
  32. ^ "Gabriela Hearst on Why Making Things That Stand the Test of Time Matters".
  33. ^ a b Phaidon. "In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials". Phaidon. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  34. ^ "Our 65 Favorite Books of the Year". Literary Hub. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  35. ^ 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.
  36. ^ Pointed Leaf Press. "Tham ma da: The Adventurous Interiors of Paola Navone". Pointed Leaf Press. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  37. ^ Apartamento. "At a Distance: 100 Visionaries at Home in a Pandemic". Apartamento.
  38. ^ Phaidon. "Alchemy: The Material World of David Adjaye". Phaidon.
  39. ^ Phaidon. "Design: The Leading Hotels of the World". Phaidon.
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