It’s a disorienting time in American politics — and that’s saying a lot.  Nancy Pelosi delivered Trump a cockpunch of such magnitude that he still hasn’t quite figured out how to play it to his usual boorish, frat-guy/mean-girl advantage.  Every white man in Virginia apparently has a furtive addiction to shoe polish.  Minnesota-Nice Amy Klobuchar is reportedly mean to her staffers.  Elizabeth Warren is still getting in trouble for her dumb identity-trading misdeeds.  And Corey Booker is still Corey Booker: still glistening like a gorgeously shorn, baby-oil-dappled otter in the sun.

But then there was Stacey.  Denied the governorship of Georgia through an expert campaign of voter suppression, the polymath Democrat is still running hard.  She gave the response to the State of the Union address, which is often considered a career-killer for politicians.  Abrams’s speech might not have been a historically memorable barn-burner, but she also didn’t screw it up — and she showed the optimistic and empathetic message that Democrats hope to run on in months and years ahead.  Meanwhile, AOC is driving both GOP and NPR alike completely crazy.

Here is a sampling of the week’s best stories, culled and curated by our stupid editors.

Stacey Abrams’s new essay on identity politics reveals why she’s a rising star (Vox) and Opinion | The Stacey Abrams Revolution (NYT)

Census 2020 Has a Big Asian American Problem (AAPI Data)

Thatcher statue ‘needs 10ft-high platform’ to prevent vandalism (Standard UK)

‘I’m suing my parents for giving birth to me’ (BBC)

Workers’ Activism Rises as China’s Economy Slows, Xi Aims to Rein Them In (NYT)

When Jamaica Led the Postcolonial Fight Against Exploitation (Boston Review)

How pop culture enables bisexual people to tell their own stories (RTE)

Warwick rape group chat: Here are the boys who made rape jokes in their group chat (The Tab)

ToM superfriend Yuri Gama tells the story of his hometown: Florianópolis, Brazil (Popula)

Yugo-Tourism Is Now a Thing (OZY)

Tech Is Splitting the U.S. Workforce in Two (NYT)

Racists’ Stone Mountain Rally Dissolves In Face Of Opposition, Hurdles (TPM)

The Father of Mindfulness Awaits the End of This Life (Time)

Crash driver ‘swerved to avoid octopus’ (BBC)

This baby otter ended up a mile away from its mom. A team of experts helped them reunite (San Luis Obispo Tribune)

Napster: A New Killer Internet App (evolt.org)