How Spencer Bailey Is Leading the Charge to “Slow Down” the Media Landscape

Now entering their tenth season, which kicks off with Rita Sodi, the chef-owner of I Sodi, the crew behind “Time Sensitive” has perfected the portrait show, inviting guests such as Hiroshi Sugimoto and Massimo Bottura to share their life story and work through the lens of time. The roster of guests vary greatly in their talents and are at various stages of life. (For example, climate activist Xiye Bastida was just 20 years old during her episode, while sculptor Thaddeus Mosley was 97 years old during the recording of his.)

While on the surface they may seem wildly different, all of the guests have an underlying but fundamental link. “They’re all people who understand what a gift it is to wake up in the morning and take a breath—they understand the gift of being alive, and being a creative person functioning in today’s world,” Bailey tells Galerie. “It starts with a breath, and another breath, and that leads them on to their creative journey.”

Rushing through those breaths, Bailey realized, is how the creativity often gets lost. The episodes he’s created are akin to going on a long walk and letting your mind wander. Hours of research goes into each episode, but nothing is calculated or follows a particular interview formula. Instead, tuning in is like “eavesdropping on some of the greatest minds of our generation,” he says. He wants his listeners to come out of the other end of the episode changed in some way, but he is careful to avoid being prescriptive.

“Nobody is telling you how to slow down or use your time—it’s just how this worked for this particular person,” he says. “This is how this person creates and this is what makes them tick.”.

His brand has grown along the way with a second podcast, a book, and a forthcoming five-book collaborative series with The Leading Hotels of the World. “When this started, it was a humble idea of, ‘Let’s make a media company and create a podcast and see what happens,’” Bailey explains.

There were some trials along the way and a few missteps, but there was still beauty and time to reflect in those moments.

For Bailey, who also serves as co-chair of the board of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, each episode is a chance to make a path for his guest to walk down and re-explore where they have been and how they got there. In his personal life, art, food, friends, and books create new paths for his own growth.

“It’s been five years of trying to explore and figure out what a small, sustainable media company can look like—we built that foundation, and we continue to see our audience grow,” he adds. “Doing something slower and more thoughtful in an ecosystem that’s full of rushed noise is a challenging endeavor—but one that we’re proving to be a successful model.”