Welcome to Captured, where we explore how knowledge is preserved and lost in our digital era. In today’s episode, you’ll meet Bruno Giussani, a curator who has spent decades seeking out the ideas and people shaping our society.

Overview

In this conversation, we dive into what it really means to curate knowledge, how the movement of ideas changes over time, and how this can help us make sense of the growing flood of information in the modern world. Bruno describes curation as a blend of discovery, judgment, and storytelling, where the most profound contributions often come from lesser-known experts, whose important perspectives would otherwise go unnoticed.

Noting that we live in an era of “infinite information,” where automation and artificial intelligence can generate content endlessly. This abundance offers new opportunities to find and share knowledge, but also challenges us to expand our capacity for discernment and curation fast enough to keep up.

In a world where technology can both preserve and distort knowledge, the human art of curation has also never been more vital. Bruno reminds us that the choices we make about what to notice, amplify, and remember will shape the culture and knowledge base that future generations inherit.

Timestamps

00:01:50 – Discovering TED00:07:41 – The art of curation, and information overload00:23:32 – Working with Pope Francis00:31:46 – AI and the fragility of systems01:07:55 – The future of cultural knowledge and digital libraries01:17:50 – Advice for young people, the necessity of critical distance to avoid capture

About Bruno

Bruno was the international curator of TED, the organization best known for its TED Talks, he played a key role in transforming it from an annual conference into a global platform for sharing “ideas worth spreading.” He has curated over a thousand talks from world leaders, scientists, and changemakers, including two talks from Pope Francis, helping their ideas reach new audiences worldwide.

His most recent project is the newly released Deftech Podcast (in French and German), which in its first season investigates the ways AI and neurotech threaten our cognitive integrity. He is working on a book on the same topic; find out more at giussani.com.

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations:

* Forum des 100 at 25,

* the Vatican and its library,

* the keepers of the British Museum,

* Borges’ Library of Babel (implementation)

People:

* Nicoletta Iacobacci: Educating a Superintelligence, why we need an ethics of example

* Pope Francis: Why the only future worth building includes everyone (2017) Our moral imperative to act on climate change (2020)

* What can be learned from Hernando Columbus and his Library? (Brewster Kahle, 2022)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit capturedpod.substack.com