Following a surprisingly strong job growth report that showed unemployment improved last month, US stocks surged toward an all-time high yesterday. / AP

See also: Nearly all of the new jobs added in January were in healthcare and related fields. / The Wall Street Journal [$]

However, according to new data, job growth has been overstated over the past two years—in 2025, the actual number of jobs added was 69% lower than reported. / The New York Times [$]

After 88 years of publishing presidential approval ratings—going back to FDR—Gallup announces it will no longer track individual ratings. / Wikipedia, the Hill

Since 1970, climate change has been growing predictably, but over the past three years those rates have jumped precipitously, possibly due to how clouds work. / The Washington Post [$]

“Being an elementary school student in the United States is more deadly than being an ICE officer.” / Doomsday Scenario

Americans are buying the myth of the police state, just as white South Africans did at the onset of apartheid. / The Dial

See also: How the mega-rich are turning their mansions into impenetrable fortresses. / The Wall Street Journal [$]

Amid a withering commercial real estate market, some powerful brokers are making millions by selling ICE empty warehouses for future detention facilities. / Jacobin

Related: ICE is rapidly expanding its footprint in the US, and leasing records show where the agency is headed next. / Wired

MAGA money has infested the art world, forcing artists to consider ways to prevent the sale of their work to politically abhorrent patrons. / Hyperallergic

A list of all the tech subscriptions you may want to cancel due to their “outsized influence over the national economy and our president.” / Resist and Unsubscribe

Regarding yesterday’s links about Anthropic, a much better profile of the company: “What Is Claude? Anthropic Doesn't Know, Either,” by Gideon Lewis-Kraus. / The New Yorker

To decipher the rules of an ancient Roman board game, researchers trained AI to trial thousands of other possible games using the gameboard. / Scientific American

A guide to the emoji you should use to express something like love, but you don’t want to use any of the heart emoji. / Did Someone Say Emoji?

Grinding your way to a Nintendo Switch 2 via nearly 500 Citi Bike rides, with a hiatus for multiple months due to a broken foot. / Aftermath

Headshots of famous artists from the 1980s, and newly discovered photos of 1970s London squatters. / Ironic Sans, Creative Boom

From 1832, a series of woodblock prints of snowflakes taken from firsthand observation by Doi Toshitsura. / The Public Domain Review

In the members area, unlocked links from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post ↓