The spikes in the US political news cycle formed a jagged saw this week, as they have for months on end.

One writer’s roundup yesterday took the form of – what else? – a tweet: “President’s campaign chairman is waiting to find out if he’s going to prison. Architect of bin Laden raid is daring president to take his clearances. Reality show contestant/WH employee has tape of $180K offer she got to stay quiet. Years of chaos in one day.”

That’s a formula for exhaustion, division, and dismay. Where to look for some unity and affirming values? To stories that show our humanity.

A 14-year-old in Vermont figured out that he met the requirements to be on the primary ballot. He’s running for governor. Why? “If I can get one person who wasn’t involved in the political process before involved now,” he told a reporter, “then my campaign will have been a success.”

In London, a onetime refugee,​ ​who now has two engineering degrees, ​was holding a work-for-hire sign outside a subway station​. ​A straphanger tweeted his photo and has generated more than 19,000 replies.

And some residents of fire-ravaged Redding, Calif., have a few words for the individuals authorities say sparked the blaze with the exposed rim of a trailer tire gone flat. The messages are overwhelmingly not of anger, but of support. “We’ve had people who’ve lost everything,” a resident said, “and they are even saying ‘it's not your fault.’ ”

Now to our five stories for your Friday, including shifts in thought on guns​ in Canada, on an old-conqueror in Siberia, and on our collective place in the universe.