About

The Slowdown is a culture-forward media company that believes the greatest luxury is time.

A collective of editors, writers, photographers, filmmakers, producers, creative directors, and strategists, we craft stories with simplicity, clarity, and beauty. We make a long-form interview podcast on the subject of time and a newsletter that goes out to 11,000+ subscribers. We also host and organize intimate live talks and events.

In collaboration with select mission-aligned companies, we provide high-level editorial direction, curation, and production. Our team helps brands tell their stories with meaning and feeling across a wide range of media, from books and publications to film and audio.

Team

Spencer Bailey
Editor-in-Chief
Spencer is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Slowdown, and the host of the Time Sensitive podcast. He is also the editor-at-large of the book publisher Phaidon. He has written at length about architecture, art, culture, and design, and contributed to publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Fortune, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Town & Country. From 2013 to 2018, he was the editor-in-chief of Surface magazine. He is the author of several books, including In Memory Of: Designing Contemporary Memorials (2020), and serves as co-chair of the board of trustees of the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, New York. In 2023 and 2024, he was named to the Wallpaper USA 300 and USA 400 lists, respectively, as a curator “preserving and promoting creative culture.”
@spencercbailey
Ramon Broza
Head of Production and Operations
Ramon is the head of production and operations at The Slowdown and joined the company in 2022. As a producer, he has worked on projects spanning the globe, including production at CNN and MTV, production management for Live Nation, and content creation for clients such as Nike and Cardi B. Ramon is also an accredited life coach.
@ramonbroza
Emily Jiang
Senior Editor
Emily is the senior editor of The Slowdown and has been with the company since 2021. She manages the company’s day-to-day editorial workflow and the post-production process for Time Sensitive. A graduate of Pomona College and the Columbia Publishing Course, she was founder and editor-in-chief of the undergraduate philosophy journal Tabula Rasa.
@emilyzingiber
Adriana Gelves
Partnerships Director
Adriana has been leading partnerships at The Slowdown since 2021. Since 2020, she has also consulted for a number of design- and culture-driven companies, including the online marketplace Basic.Space. Previously, she served as the vice president of brand partnerships at Surface Media, where for more than a decade she led partnerships, custom content, and experiential divisions for clients. At The Slowdown, she has developed partnerships with Cartier, Grand Seiko, Maharam, and Van Cleef & Arpels, among other companies.
@adrigel
Johnny Simon
Audio Engineer
Johnny is The Slowdown’s audio engineer and has worked with the company since 2022. As a producer and guitar player, he is one of the founding members of the band Wilsen and has collaborated with artists and producers such as Ben Baptie, Andrew Sarlo, and Daughter.
@johnnysimonjr
Emma Leigh Macdonald
Editorial Assistant
Emma has been The Slowdown’s editorial assistant since 2023. Also a chef, she runs the pop-up series Mon Petit Canard with her partner, Rowan Spencer, and independently has created culinary installations and menus with PIN—UP HOME, Demisch Danant, Public Records, Natoora, and Laila Gohar. She has curated, written, and edited work for Gohar World, the Istanbul Design Biennial, the New Museum, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and the New Art Dealers Alliance.
@emmaleighmacdonald
Cynthia Rosenfeld
Editor-at-Large
Cynthia has been the editor-at-large of The Slowdown since 2023. She began her international writing career as the Asia correspondent for Condé Nast Traveler, where she continues to contribute to this day. Her work has also appeared in the Financial Times’s HTSI, The New York Times, Robb Report, Travel+Leisure, and Wallpaper, among other publications.
@cynthiaroams
Erika Owen
Marketing and Audience Development Advisor
Erika oversees The Slowdown’s digital marketing and audience development, and has worked with the company since August 2024. A freelance writer, editor, and audience development manager focused on design and travel, she’s led global audience development teams for Condé Nast and written for Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue, Bon Appétit, and Travel + Leisure, including an uncountable number of stories about Iceland (she’s been 15 times). Erika is also the author of three books: The Art of Flaneuring, Lawbreaking Ladies, and Fodor’s Essential Iceland.
@erikaraeowen
Mimi Hannon
Copy Editor
Mimi has been The Slowdown’s copy editor since 2019 and has worked in book, magazine, and marketing publishing for more than two decades. Past clients include Art Basel, David Zwirner Galleries, Rizzoli New York, Surface Media, Apartamento, and Apple.
@mimi.hannon
Debbie Samuelson
Visual Editor
Debbie has been a visual editor at The Slowdown since 2024. Across her decades as a visual editor and creative executive, Debbie has held roles at publications such as The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, WSJ. Magazine, and Vanity Fair. She has also collaborated with Geffen Records, Columbia Records, and boutique production companies where she built and ran divisions, developing and supporting talent.
Jolanta Alberty
Photo Editor
Jolanta has been a photo editor at The Slowdown since 2023. Previously, she was the senior visuals editor at GQ and GQ Style magazines, where she collaborated with photographers and artists to create award-winning images recognized by the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Society of Publication Designers, and American Illustration–American Photography. Jolanta joined the curator and critic Hilton Als as a photo editor on several exhibitions, including “Toni Morrison’s Black Book” at David Zwirner.
@jolabielat
Simon Critchley
Philosopher-at-Large
Simon is The Slowdown’s philosopher-at-large and the Hans Jonas Professor at the New School for Social Research. His books include Bald (2021), Tragedy, the Greeks and Us (2019), and The Book of Dead Philosophers (2009). He has written on subjects ranging from David Bowie to soccer to suicide to Heidegger. From 2010 to 2021, he was the series moderator of The Stone, a philosophy column in The New York Times and co-editor of three volumes connected to the series, most recently Question Everything (2022). He is a member of the board of directors of the Onassis Foundation. His next book, Mysticism, will be published by The New York Review of Books in 2024.
@critchls