Stepanov was born in Leningrad, he is a St Petersburg Classical Gymnasium graduate and a SPBU alumni.

[3] Stepanov wrote for Kommersant-Weekend, Russian Reporter, Empire, Afisha, and others.

[4] In 2019, Stepanov released Bergman, a book of critical essays and analytics, dedicated to the famous director.

[8][9] In 2020, Stepanov took over as Seans chief editor when its founder Lyubov Arkus resigned after a defamation scandal.

In 2022, he released a book about a prominent Soviet and Russian director Rustam Khamdamov.