Robin Good

Museums act as filters for cultural abundance. Only so much can be kept within museum storerooms or displayed in exhibitions. Limited word counts on exhibition texts require the winnowing down of very large topics to the small and essential. Many core museum functions, from the selection of what objects and information should be kept through to... See more

The role of a curator is fairly nuanced and involves the care, management, and interpretation of collections in museums, galleries, libraries, or other cultural institutions. Curators are responsible for selecting, researching, preserving, and exhibiting items, as well as educating the public about them. Essentially, curators act as stewards of... See more

the real distinction is active curation versus algorithmic passivity.

Those who maintain curated RSS feeds, follow specific critics, actively seek content rather than accept recommendations—they occupy a different position in the status hierarchy than those who let the algorithm feed them.

This is the new elite: the curators. The ones who resist the... See more

Duration is the final filter. People chasing rewards leave when rewards dry up. Sustained obsession can’t be faked. If you do fake it long enough to become indistinguishable from someone who has it, you’re not faking anymore.

Social media platforms face a structural contradiction that current valuations do not adequately price. Their business model requires maximizing engagement. The research demonstrates that engagement-optimized content degrades both the AI systems trained on it and the humans consuming it.

The brands winning now have stopped shouting into cameras. They’re curating taste universes. They show art influencing their design. Music the brand appreciates. Books that inform their thinking. Collaborators, artists, designers, activists whose work aligns with their sensibility. Cultural references shaping their aesthetic.

They give us worlds to... See more

While it’s probably one of the corniest things I’ll ever write in this column, I’ve come to believe that developing taste is not so unlike going to therapy; it’s an inefficient, time-consuming process that mostly entails looking inward and identifying whatever already moves you. It’s the product of devouring ideas, images and pieces of culture not... See more

There will always be creators. But the ones who stand out in this era are also curators. People who filter their worldview so cleanly that you want to see through their eyes. People who make you feel sharper just by paying attention to what they pay attention to.

Unlike vertical search aggregators, boutique search engines feel less like the Yellow Pages and more like texting your friends to ask for a recommendation. They have constrained supply, which is the foundation for their biggest moat: trust .