Pablo Piccato
@ppiccato.bsky.social
Historian of Mexico, from poetry to crime. Recent books:
Historia mínima de la violencia en México; A History of Infamy: Crime Truth and Justice in Mexico.
Historia mínima de la violencia en México; A History of Infamy: Crime Truth and Justice in Mexico.
“I worked on a project that was just cleaning up after a high-level engineer tried to use AI to generate code to complete a complex project,” . . . “But none of it worked and he didn’t understand why – starting from scratch would have actually been easier.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
More than 1,000 Amazon workers warn rapid AI rollout threatens jobs and climate
Workers say the firm’s ‘warp-speed’ approach fuels pressure, layoffs and rising emissions
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:25 PM
“I worked on a project that was just cleaning up after a high-level engineer tried to use AI to generate code to complete a complex project,” . . . “But none of it worked and he didn’t understand why – starting from scratch would have actually been easier.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
“the scale and depth of the attacks on our institutions—whether dismantled, weaponized, or personalized—mean that there is no simple way for a pro-democracy coalition to just flip the lights back on”
The scale and depth of the attack on our institutions means that there is no simple way for a pro-democracy coalition to flip the lights back on after Trump. We need transformative thinking.
dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Case for a Third Reconstruction - Dissent Magazine
The scale and depth of the attack on our institutions means that there is no simple way for a pro-democracy coalition to flip the lights back on after Trump. We need transformative thinking.
dissentmagazine.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
“the scale and depth of the attacks on our institutions—whether dismantled, weaponized, or personalized—mean that there is no simple way for a pro-democracy coalition to just flip the lights back on”
The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
Opinion | The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:43 PM
The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
Mi entrevista en El País elpais.com/mexico/2025-...
Pablo Piccato: “El sistema de seguridad y justicia que se formó con el PRI está diseñado para no funcionar bien”
El académico acaba de publicar ‘Historia Mínima de la Violencia en México’, un repaso a la constelación de conflictos armados que ha vivido México desde la Revolución y un intento de explicar el prese...
elpais.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Mi entrevista en El País elpais.com/mexico/2025-...
Un artículo sobre los exiliados radicales bajo la dictadura basado en las cartas y las publicaciones de mi padre www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/art_revistas...
www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar
October 14, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Un artículo sobre los exiliados radicales bajo la dictadura basado en las cartas y las publicaciones de mi padre www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/art_revistas...
The Plains and the Pampas: a workshop at Columbia
October 11, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The Plains and the Pampas: a workshop at Columbia
Reposted by Pablo Piccato
MIT’s reply to Trumps shocking attack on education is a master class in deft rhetorical communication and positioning. It refutes without ceding ground. It negates without naming the charge. It accuses and rejects while sounding compliant. What a breath of fresh air after endless disappointments
MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart
orgchart.mit.edu
October 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM
MIT’s reply to Trumps shocking attack on education is a master class in deft rhetorical communication and positioning. It refutes without ceding ground. It negates without naming the charge. It accuses and rejects while sounding compliant. What a breath of fresh air after endless disappointments
Reposted by Pablo Piccato
I am honored to be a colleague (and student) of Rashid Khalidi and his public lectures on Palestine at The People's Forum have started. Please learn!
Short Course on Palestine Class 1: The Origins of The Hundred Years War
YouTube video by The People's Forum NYC
www.youtube.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I am honored to be a colleague (and student) of Rashid Khalidi and his public lectures on Palestine at The People's Forum have started. Please learn!
Next October 30, I will be discussing A Brief History of Violence in Mexico with my friends Thomas Rath, Gema Kloppe-Santamaría, Paulo Drinot and Ben Smith www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
A Brief History of Violence in Mexico
This session will discuss A Brief History of Violence in Mexico by Pablo Piccato (Columbia University).
www.sas.ac.uk
September 25, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Next October 30, I will be discussing A Brief History of Violence in Mexico with my friends Thomas Rath, Gema Kloppe-Santamaría, Paulo Drinot and Ben Smith www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
From Columbia’s Mark Mazower: www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...
The origins of today’s conflict between American Jews over Israel
In the early years, American Jewish support for Israel was a fraught issue. The turning point was the six-day war of 1967, which solidified a strength of feeling that has only recently begun to fract...
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM
From Columbia’s Mark Mazower: www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...
Reposted by Pablo Piccato
Remember Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil who was abducted and detained for his pro-Palestinian speech?
His story is a prime example of what can happen when a school abandons its students to the whim of the government.
His story is a prime example of what can happen when a school abandons its students to the whim of the government.
September 16, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Remember Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil who was abducted and detained for his pro-Palestinian speech?
His story is a prime example of what can happen when a school abandons its students to the whim of the government.
His story is a prime example of what can happen when a school abandons its students to the whim of the government.
a “well-known practice from the McCarthy Era” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move
Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2025 at 10:18 PM
a “well-known practice from the McCarthy Era” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
“Weiss’s publication, in short, was the preferred vehicle for conveying information from Columbia insiders who wanted to purge all criticism of Israel from the university to Trump administration officials who were using … financial pressure to help them do … that” www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
Disgruntled NYT journalist to ‘anti-woke’ power grab: how far can Bari Weiss go?
After leaving the New York Times, she turned her Substack into an unshakable pro-Israel voice. Now as Paramount eyes acquisition of her company, Weiss is poised to become Trump’s ally among media elit...
www.theguardian.com
September 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
“Weiss’s publication, in short, was the preferred vehicle for conveying information from Columbia insiders who wanted to purge all criticism of Israel from the university to Trump administration officials who were using … financial pressure to help them do … that” www.theguardian.com/media/ng-int...
Reposted by Pablo Piccato
Together, Texans built one of the finest systems of higher education in the world. Ideologues and opportunists are tearing it down. It is a despicable act of generational vandalism that will hurt all Texans, their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren.
Professors want to leave Texas because of tense political climate, survey says
Professors’ concerns included the state’s DEI ban and new limits to faculty influence at colleges and universities.
www.texastribune.org
September 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Together, Texans built one of the finest systems of higher education in the world. Ideologues and opportunists are tearing it down. It is a despicable act of generational vandalism that will hurt all Texans, their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren.
Correct on the banal pledges of neutrality by real-estate-operations-with-tax-breaks administrators, but still relying on the simplistic taxonomy of “liberals” vs “conservatives” in the faculty. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
How to save the American university
As Trump threatens funding and public trust plummets, US schools are in the fight of a lifetime. This is how they can survive – with their souls intact
www.theguardian.com
August 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Correct on the banal pledges of neutrality by real-estate-operations-with-tax-breaks administrators, but still relying on the simplistic taxonomy of “liberals” vs “conservatives” in the faculty. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
“To equate the expression of such views with antisemitism is not only wrong; as Judt warned, it also risks putting Jewish students in greater danger.” www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
The Troubling Lines That Columbia Is Drawing
By adopting an overly broad and controversial definition of antisemitism, the university is putting both academic freedom and its Jewish students at risk.
www.newyorker.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:02 PM
“To equate the expression of such views with antisemitism is not only wrong; as Judt warned, it also risks putting Jewish students in greater danger.” www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Pablo Piccato
My new book ‘Hispanic Technocracy: From Fascism to Catholic Authoritarianism in Spain, Argentina, and
Chile' with @CambridgeUP is out now! cambridge.org/9781009603041
Chile' with @CambridgeUP is out now! cambridge.org/9781009603041
August 14, 2025 at 7:31 AM
My new book ‘Hispanic Technocracy: From Fascism to Catholic Authoritarianism in Spain, Argentina, and
Chile' with @CambridgeUP is out now! cambridge.org/9781009603041
Chile' with @CambridgeUP is out now! cambridge.org/9781009603041
The personal narrative is more interesting than the authoritarian thinking, of course. “The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...
The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities
www.nytimes.com
August 11, 2025 at 8:20 PM
The personal narrative is more interesting than the authoritarian thinking, of course. “The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...