Spencer Bailey

Last updated
Spencer Bailey
Born (1985-08-18) August 18, 1985 (age 38)
Nationality American
Alma mater Dickinson College,
Columbia University
Occupation(s)Writer, 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 has written at length about architecture, art, culture, and design, among other subjects. [2]

Contents

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 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

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

2009–2010: Early work

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

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

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

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jhumpa Lahiri</span> American author

Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri is a British-American author known for her short stories, novels, and essays in English and, more recently, in Italian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Airlines Flight 232</span> 1989 aviation accident

United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC-10 serving the flight crash-landed at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine due to an unnoticed manufacturing defect in the engine's fan disk, which resulted in the loss of many flight controls. Of the 296 passengers and crew on board, 112 died during the accident, while 184 people survived. 13 of the passengers were uninjured. It was the deadliest single-aircraft accident in the history of United Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanye West</span> American rapper and producer (born 1977)

Ye is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. One of the world's best-selling music artists with 160 million records sold, West has won 24 Grammy Awards, the joint tenth-most of all time and most awarded for any hip hop artist jointly with Jay-Z. His other accolades include a Billboard Artist Achievement Award, a joint-record three Brit Awards for Best International Male Solo Artist and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

The year 2002 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Rubell</span> American entrepreneur (1943–1989)

Steve Rubell was an American entrepreneur and co-owner of the New York City disco Studio 54.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Knight (photographer)</span> British photographer

Nicholas David Gordon Knight is a British fashion photographer and founder and director of SHOWstudio.com. He is an honorary professor at University of the Arts London and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. by the same university. He has produced books of his work including retrospectives Nicknight (1994) and Nick Knight (2009). In 2016, Knight's 1992 campaign photograph for fashion brand Jil Sander was sold by Phillips auction house at the record-breaking price of HKD 2,360,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phaidon Press</span> British book publisher

Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional offices in Paris and Berlin. With over 1,500 titles in print, Phaidon books are sold in over 100 countries and are printed in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin, and dozens of other languages. Since the publisher's founding in Vienna in 1923, Phaidon has sold almost 50 million books worldwide.

Ian Schrager is an American entrepreneur, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of Studio 54.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neo-futurism</span> Architectural and art movement and style

Neo-futurism is a late-20th to early-21st-century movement in the arts, design, and architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Adjaye</span> Ghanaian-British architect (born 1966)

Sir David Frank Adjaye is a Ghanaian-British architect. He is known for having designed many notable buildings around the world, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Adjaye was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to architecture. He is the recipient of the 2021 Royal Gold Medal, making him the first African recipient and one of the youngest recipients. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paola Antonelli</span> Italian architect, curator, author, and educator

Paola Antonelli is an Italian architect, curator, author, editor, and educator. Antonelli is the Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, where she also serves as the founding Director of Research and Development. She has been described as "one of the 25 most incisive design visionaries in the world" by TIME magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royalton Hotel</span> Hotel in Manhattan, New York

The Royalton Hotel is a hotel at 44 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The hotel, opened in 1898, was designed by architecture firm Rossiter & Wright and developed by civil engineer Edward G. Bailey. The 13-story building is made of brick, stone, terracotta, and iron. The hotel's lobby, which connects 43rd and 44th Streets, contains a bar and restaurant. The upper stories originally featured 90 apartments, but these were replaced with 205 guestrooms when Philippe Starck and Gruzen Samton Steinglass Architects converted the Royalton to a boutique hotel in the 1980s.

Michael Gabellini, FAIA, is a minimalist architect, interior designer and partner of Gabellini Sheppard Associates with Design Partner, Kimberly Sheppard and Consulting Partner, Daniel Garbowit. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he won the National Design Award for Interior Design in 2006 and has also been recognized with the Progressive Architecture Award and awards from the American Institute of Architects, the International Interior Design Association, among other professional societies and publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deyan Sudjic</span> British writer and broadcaster (born 1952)

Deyan Sudjic is a British writer and broadcaster, specialising in the fields of design and architecture. He was formerly the director of the Design Museum, London.

Surface is an American publication covering design, architecture, fashion, culture and travel; with print and digital publications. The publication has an online presence through the Design Dispatch daily newsletter, as well as through social media.

Blain|Southern was a contemporary art gallery with branches in London, Berlin and New York. It was started in September 2010 by Harry Blain and Graham Southern, who had sold their previous gallery, Haunch of Venison, to Christie's. The gallery was originally at 21 Dering Street, but moved to 4 Hanover Square, London W1, in October 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK Holocaust Memorial</span> Planned memorial in London, England, UK

A UK Holocaust Memorial and learning centre was first proposed in 2015 to preserve the testimony of British Holocaust survivors and concentration camp liberators and to honour Jewish and other victims of Nazi persecution, including Roma, homosexual, and disabled people.

The year 2021 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Olivares</span> American industrial designer

Jonathan Olivares is an American industrial designer and author. Olivares's approach to design has been characterized research-based and incremental. In April 2022 he became Senior Vice-President of Design at the Knoll furniture company.

Felix Burrichter is an architect, publisher, curator, creative director, and writer. Burrichter is the founder Pin-Up magazine, a biannual architecture and design publication where he currently serves as the magazine's creative director. Burrichter has curated internationally at institutions including the Haus der Kunst, Swiss Institute, and Museum of Arts and Design and has published architecture, design, and artist monographs for Rizzoli and Powerhouse. In 2011, he was awarded the Art Director's Club America Gold Medal for Editorial Design. Burrichter lives and works in New York, New York.

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. "Spencer Bailey, alive and well and ... a journalist, of course" . Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  6. Flight 232 Memorial and Statue – Sioux City, IA.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "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. 1 2 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.