And reject good stories that have been nominated, despite their having been selected by the 'subject experts' that they subcontracted the initial selection process, and who by definition are more familiar with the topic, their writers and their readers than just a generic curator.

And despite those stories not being in breach of any Medium requirements.

This is the perverse aspect for me - if Curation want to subcontract, they should trust their subcontractors, and step in only if it is clear that the system is being abused or guidelines not followed.

Unless they have secret criteria that they have not told the nominators.