Peter M. Catapano
@petermcatapano.bsky.social
Author of The Hollywood Brand: Movies & American Modernity. Professor of Immigration and Cultural History at NYCCT.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
As a historian of Manifest Destiny I should have some sort of witty response to this, but I cannot believe that the MAGAites are embracing a history of violence and dispossession so enthusiastically. Our history of "acquiring new lands" is littered with massacres of the prior inhabitants.
Cruz: "When it comes to Greenland, I want to commend President Trump for being single-mindedly focused on America first... I believe it is overwhelmingly in America's national interest to acquire Greenland... the whole history of America has been a history of acquiring new lands and new territories"
January 18, 2026 at 5:17 PM
As a historian of Manifest Destiny I should have some sort of witty response to this, but I cannot believe that the MAGAites are embracing a history of violence and dispossession so enthusiastically. Our history of "acquiring new lands" is littered with massacres of the prior inhabitants.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
This piece is as good as people say it is. Read it to appreciate that writing isn't just about content, but style. AI can't do this.
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:10 AM
This piece is as good as people say it is. Read it to appreciate that writing isn't just about content, but style. AI can't do this.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 5: Vito Marcantonio
There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.
There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.
November 4, 2025 at 4:14 AM
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 5: Vito Marcantonio
There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.
There are many who dismiss our vision for New York as impossible. To them, I say we need look only to our past for proof of how we can shape the future.
Tomorrow is Election Day. And this is the final Until It's Done of our campaign.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Yeah, this is what I wrestle with -- a college freshman today was only nine when Trump first ran for president. They've grown up with him as a baseline, not an aberration.
It's odd for me to realize that my first-year undergraduates are at an age where they don't really remember that there was a form of US politics prior to Donald Trump. For them, Trump is not an aberration from the normal course of political discourse, but just how US politics is done.
October 25, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Yeah, this is what I wrestle with -- a college freshman today was only nine when Trump first ran for president. They've grown up with him as a baseline, not an aberration.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
CUNY is the nation’s largest urban public university system and an engine of social mobility for the city's working class.
But like so many of our public institutions, Andrew Cuomo subject it to years of disinvestment and neglect as Governor. That record cannot be forgotten.
But like so many of our public institutions, Andrew Cuomo subject it to years of disinvestment and neglect as Governor. That record cannot be forgotten.
Cuomo’s controversial CUNY record resurfaces as affordability concerns dominate mayor’s race
Advocates, union leaders and lawmakers have criticized his previous push to cut state aid.
www.politico.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:28 PM
CUNY is the nation’s largest urban public university system and an engine of social mobility for the city's working class.
But like so many of our public institutions, Andrew Cuomo subject it to years of disinvestment and neglect as Governor. That record cannot be forgotten.
But like so many of our public institutions, Andrew Cuomo subject it to years of disinvestment and neglect as Governor. That record cannot be forgotten.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Cuomo helped form the IDC, a group of rogue Democratic state senators who sided with Republicans year after year to keep loopholes in NY’s rent stabilization laws.
The result: tens of thousands of rent stabilized units were eliminated.
www.politico.com/states/new-y...
The result: tens of thousands of rent stabilized units were eliminated.
www.politico.com/states/new-y...
Another Cuomo noninterference story falls apart
Andrew Cuomo has always been careful to maintain a plausible-looking deniability when it comes to his role in keeping his own party out of power in the State Senate.
www.politico.com
August 9, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Cuomo helped form the IDC, a group of rogue Democratic state senators who sided with Republicans year after year to keep loopholes in NY’s rent stabilization laws.
The result: tens of thousands of rent stabilized units were eliminated.
www.politico.com/states/new-y...
The result: tens of thousands of rent stabilized units were eliminated.
www.politico.com/states/new-y...
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
New York City had free college tuition at all CUNY schools for 130 years
Democratic congressman Tom Suozzi slams Zohran Mamdani as "a bad example" who made "lofty, utopian promises: free public transit, free college tuition, more public housing"
July 2, 2025 at 11:16 PM
New York City had free college tuition at all CUNY schools for 130 years
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
W.E.B. Du Bois on Robert E. Lee:
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
June 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM
W.E.B. Du Bois on Robert E. Lee:
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
NOW— Mass ICE arrests happened/are happening at the Manhattan immigration court at 290 Broadway on the 20th floor.
I was just outside the building and an observer came out crying, confirmed they witnessed people getting detained outside courtrooms while families watched and wept.
I was just outside the building and an observer came out crying, confirmed they witnessed people getting detained outside courtrooms while families watched and wept.
May 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
NOW— Mass ICE arrests happened/are happening at the Manhattan immigration court at 290 Broadway on the 20th floor.
I was just outside the building and an observer came out crying, confirmed they witnessed people getting detained outside courtrooms while families watched and wept.
I was just outside the building and an observer came out crying, confirmed they witnessed people getting detained outside courtrooms while families watched and wept.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Orson Welles has a new gig — despite being dead since 1985 — thanks to AI.
His voice has been digitally re-created "using licensed audio from his estate."
Which reminds me of something the real Welles once said: "I hate almost everything in the modern world.”
variety.com/2025/digital... #FilmSky
His voice has been digitally re-created "using licensed audio from his estate."
Which reminds me of something the real Welles once said: "I hate almost everything in the modern world.”
variety.com/2025/digital... #FilmSky
Orson Welles Can Now Be Your AI-Generated Tour Guide
Orson Welles is back -- as a disembodied AI-generated voice in location-based storytelling app Storyrabbit.
variety.com
May 23, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Orson Welles has a new gig — despite being dead since 1985 — thanks to AI.
His voice has been digitally re-created "using licensed audio from his estate."
Which reminds me of something the real Welles once said: "I hate almost everything in the modern world.”
variety.com/2025/digital... #FilmSky
His voice has been digitally re-created "using licensed audio from his estate."
Which reminds me of something the real Welles once said: "I hate almost everything in the modern world.”
variety.com/2025/digital... #FilmSky
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
At last night's mayoral forum cosponsored by Hell Gate and NY Focus at the Public Theater, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social asked @bradlander.bsky.social a question that Lander was more than ready to answer: What he thought was the worst thing Andrew Cuomo did as governor.
May 16, 2025 at 9:34 PM
At last night's mayoral forum cosponsored by Hell Gate and NY Focus at the Public Theater, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social asked @bradlander.bsky.social a question that Lander was more than ready to answer: What he thought was the worst thing Andrew Cuomo did as governor.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy.
"Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
"Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
March 20, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy.
"Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
"Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
From Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University: slate.com/life/2025/02...
Dear Fellow College Presidents: We Need to Do More Than Wait This One Out
Why civil society needs university leaders to speak up.
slate.com
February 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
From Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University: slate.com/life/2025/02...
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
“.. They were called essential workers during the pandemic when our nation needed them ..”
@nbcbayarea.com
www.nbcbayarea.com/news/califor...
@nbcbayarea.com
www.nbcbayarea.com/news/califor...
Central Valley farmworkers scared to show up to work over deportation fear
The California Farm Bureau says fears in the Central Valley have led to migrant farmworkers not showing up for work, which has virtually halted the area’s citrus harvest.
www.nbcbayarea.com
January 27, 2025 at 6:07 PM
“.. They were called essential workers during the pandemic when our nation needed them ..”
@nbcbayarea.com
www.nbcbayarea.com/news/califor...
@nbcbayarea.com
www.nbcbayarea.com/news/califor...
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Colombia has accepted hundreds of deportation flights in the past years. It rejected two flights using military planes, but agreed to continue taking flights using normal ICE planes.
In response, the Trump administration has done the equivalent of punching them in the face.
In response, the Trump administration has done the equivalent of punching them in the face.
NEWS
After President Petro of Colombia denied entry of two US repatriation flights of Colombian migrants, President Trump has announced these retaliatory measures.
Petro said he wouldn’t allow the flights in until Trump establishes a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants.
After President Petro of Colombia denied entry of two US repatriation flights of Colombian migrants, President Trump has announced these retaliatory measures.
Petro said he wouldn’t allow the flights in until Trump establishes a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants.
January 26, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Colombia has accepted hundreds of deportation flights in the past years. It rejected two flights using military planes, but agreed to continue taking flights using normal ICE planes.
In response, the Trump administration has done the equivalent of punching them in the face.
In response, the Trump administration has done the equivalent of punching them in the face.
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
Moderating a panel of past History majors, telling our current students about the career paths they took — from politics and law to cultural work and consulting. Really impressive, and that’s with a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter missing due to being sick.
History: Just Do It
History: Just Do It
December 4, 2024 at 1:00 AM
Moderating a panel of past History majors, telling our current students about the career paths they took — from politics and law to cultural work and consulting. Really impressive, and that’s with a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter missing due to being sick.
History: Just Do It
History: Just Do It
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
“Don’t feed the trolls” also extends to bad opinion pieces in papers of record.
They run them bc people react to them the most.
If we stop linking to bad columns and instead post thinkers we find valuable (& generate convo around it), incentives change.
It’s not easy and takes constant practice!
They run them bc people react to them the most.
If we stop linking to bad columns and instead post thinkers we find valuable (& generate convo around it), incentives change.
It’s not easy and takes constant practice!
December 2, 2024 at 6:19 PM
“Don’t feed the trolls” also extends to bad opinion pieces in papers of record.
They run them bc people react to them the most.
If we stop linking to bad columns and instead post thinkers we find valuable (& generate convo around it), incentives change.
It’s not easy and takes constant practice!
They run them bc people react to them the most.
If we stop linking to bad columns and instead post thinkers we find valuable (& generate convo around it), incentives change.
It’s not easy and takes constant practice!
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
I can't bring myself to be even a little mad about Biden pardoning Hunter. The values and norms he'd been trying to uphold were obliterated by American voters last month. Why sacrifice your son to a dead god?
December 2, 2024 at 2:47 PM
I can't bring myself to be even a little mad about Biden pardoning Hunter. The values and norms he'd been trying to uphold were obliterated by American voters last month. Why sacrifice your son to a dead god?
Reposted by Peter M. Catapano
I haven't seen a single "we have to understand the concerns of Trump voters" take reckons with the fact that a huge percentage of their concerns are based on false information. You cannot "address" a concern about a fake thing!
This is how I feel discussing inflation.
MAGA person: Biden doesn't care about bread and butter issues like inflation.
Me: He signed the Inflation Reduction Act and we have lowest inflation among OECD.
MAGA person: But what about inflation?!
MAGA person: Biden doesn't care about bread and butter issues like inflation.
Me: He signed the Inflation Reduction Act and we have lowest inflation among OECD.
MAGA person: But what about inflation?!
November 7, 2024 at 11:06 PM
I haven't seen a single "we have to understand the concerns of Trump voters" take reckons with the fact that a huge percentage of their concerns are based on false information. You cannot "address" a concern about a fake thing!