Clay weekly context brief for the Substack category (ISO week 2026-W33). Clay tracks publications from the Substack feed list. Below are recent items from this category, each with its source and a short description of what the publication covers when one is available in the source feed. Recent publications: 1. Sunday thought: Criminals in Control Source: Robert Reich Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-criminals-in-control And what we must do 2. August 8, 2026 Source: Heather Cox Richardson Link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-8-2026 At 4:00 this morning, just before they left for a five-week recess, Senate Republicans confirmed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the position of Attorney General of the United States. 3. Community Wisdom: Crafting outreach that reads as authentic, finding design partners, what counts as a moat when anyone can build, making a product vision Source: Lenny Rachitsky Link: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/community-wisdom-crafting-outreach Community Wisdom 196 4. Tear Down This Museum! Plus. . . Source: Bari Weiss Link: https://www.thefp.com/p/the-museum-that-radicalized-me-plus In todays Weekend Press: A look inside the museum that radicalized Caitlin Flanagan. Whats going on with Ariana Grande? The hollowness of Ted Lasso. And more! 5. Theater is weird, and thats the point. Source: Matthew Yglesias Link: https://www.slowboring.com/p/theater-is-weird-and-thats-the-point In which I come out as a total theater nerd 6. Will The Two Cults Finally Fall? Source: Andrew Sullivan Link: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/will-the-two-cults-finally-fall The cult of Trump and the cult of wokeness are taking huge hits from reality. 7. I didnt like my friends intervention. He was right Source: Anand Giridharadas Link: https://the.ink/p/i-didnt-like-my-friends-intervention I became a reporter because I wanted to understand people different from me. Then I gave in to a culture that tells us to reduce others. One day, my friend called me out 8. Links for Livestream, 3 pm ET: The Origins of COVID, Wrapping Up Fauci, and More Source: Matt Taibbi Link: https://www.racket.news/p/links-for-livestream-3-pm-et-the Dr. Matt Bivens and I discuss the case for and against lab origin for Covid, plus a wider look at issues surrounding gain of function, including new worries about AI engineering. 9. Problems at Tenable (TENB) Source: Edwin Dorsey Link: https://thebearcave.substack.com/p/problems-at-tenable-tenb Cyber Boom Leaves Behind Vulnerability Management 10. What I Read in July 2026 Source: Helen Lewis Link: https://helenlewis.substack.com/p/what-i-read-in-july-2026 Well, this is embarrassing. 11. Would I Lie To You? Source: Dan Rather Link: https://steady.substack.com/p/would-i-lie-to-you After torching CBS News, David Ellison wants us to believe he wont do the same to CNN 12. On the Perils of Self-Assessing... Source: George Saunders Link: https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/on-the-perils-of-self-assessing ...too early, too roughly, too preemptively. 13. Which 10 atmospheres are the Solar Systems thickest? Source: Ethan Siegel Link: https://startswithabang.substack.com/p/which-10-atmospheres-are-the-solar Obviously, the gas giants all top this list. But the fall-off is rapid after that, and the final two spots in the top 10 are truly shocking. 14. Late Sexual Capitalism Source: Rob Henderson Link: https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/late-sexual-capitalism Modern Wisdom 15. A Spirited Debate About The Odyssey Source: Hunter Harris Link: https://hunterharris.substack.com/p/a-spirited-debate-about-the-odyssey With @11am Saturday. 16. How much of my boss's job can AI do? Source: Casey Newton Link: https://www.platformer.news/replacing-casey-with-claude/ Six months after trying to automate myself, I gave Claude Fable 5 a bigger job: replacing Casey 17. Google Earnings, The Frontier Case, Amazon Earnings Source: Ben Thompson Link: https://stratechery.com/2026/google-earnings-the-frontier-case-amazon-earnings/ Google's earnings seemed to confirm the Anthropic hedge; it was Andy Jassy who explained why their and Amazon's capex was justifiable. 18. Don't let this episode speed away from you! Source: Neil deGrasse Tyson Link: https://startalk.substack.com/p/dont-let-this-episode-speed-away Make a pit stop and give it a watch! 19. Crafting serial fiction: the complete video guide Source: Simon K Jones Link: https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/crafting-serial-fiction-the-complete From ideas and planning to writing and publishing 20. The Shocking Truth About David Farrier Source: David Farrier Link: https://www.webworm.co/oia/ An Official Information Act request reveals all. 21. Is AI Already Conscious? (Ep. 487) Source: Sam Harris Link: https://samharris.substack.com/p/is-ai-already-conscious-ep-487 A Conversation with Cameron Berg 22. Remembering Francis Crick Source: David Eagleman Link: https://davideagleman.substack.com/p/remembering-francis-crick What a life-changing opportunity for a young scientist... 23. The fossil fuel money behind the GOPs wildfire blame game Source: Emily Atkin Link: https://heated.world/p/the-fossil-fuel-money-behind-the As smoke from Canadian wildfires chokes the United States, Republicans are blaming everyone but the industry heating the planet. Guess why? 24. Everything You Need to Know About Kimi K3, the Latest Model From China to Shake Up AI Source: Kara Swisher Link: https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about Here's how the web reacted to Kimi K3's performance, politics, and how it changes the AI race. 25. Turns out people will leave the house for wellness Source: Rosamund Dean Link: https://rosamunddean.substack.com/p/liz-earle-healthy-ageing-tips What happened at the first-ever Well Well Well Live with Liz Earle 26. Submit Your Questions for This Week's Q&A Episode Source: Glenn Greenwald Link: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/submit-your-questions-for-this-weeks-b86 Live TONIGHT at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Glenn will answer your questions, all of which you can submit by commenting on this recurring post. 27. Richard Dawkins is coming to Australia and New Zealand Source: Richard Dawkins Link: https://richarddawkins.substack.com/p/richard-dawkins-is-coming-to-australia 50 Years of The Selfish Gene. One final tour. 28. If you're missing the Culture Study Gift Guide.... Source: Anne Helen Petersen Link: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/if-youre-missing-the-culture-study Somehow it's even better than last year 29. The Seventh Wave. Episode 47. Source: Salman Rushdie Link: https://salmanrushdie.substack.com/p/the-seventh-wave-episode-47 Episode 47 30. Part 5 Alfred Wolfsohn, my father 1896-1962. Source: Michael Faraday Link: https://michaelfaraday.substack.com/p/part-5-alfred-wolfsohn-my-father His early life 31. Big Money Loses | The Coffee Klatch for Saturday, August 8, 2026 Source: Robert Reich Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/big-money-loses-the-coffee-klatch With Heather Lofthouse and yours truly, Robert Reich 32. August 7, 2026 Source: Heather Cox Richardson Link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-7-2026 On Tuesday, August 4, Erin Banco, Mike Stone, and Jonathan Landay of Reuters reported that the U.S. 33. Build an AI code review bot in 30 minutes with Vercel Eve Source: Lenny Rachitsky Link: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/build-an-ai-code-review-bot-in-30 Watch now | I used Vercel Eve agents and Codex to build Merge Mommy: a PR review bot that scores risk, auto-approves the easy ones, and pings me in Slack for the rest 34. The Joyless Return of Ted Lasso Source: Bari Weiss Link: https://www.thefp.com/p/the-joyless-return-of-ted-lasso The shows newest season replaces real character complexity, depth, and heart with big, sweeping political statements that stir progressive pundits and academics and precisely no one else, writes Liel Leibovitz. 35. In praise of commercial culture Source: Matthew Yglesias Link: https://www.slowboring.com/p/in-praise-of-commercial-culture Plus when Id vote for a Republican, the case for generalists, and why live theater is weird now Sources in this brief: Anand Giridharadas; Andrew Sullivan; Anne Helen Petersen; Bari Weiss; Ben Thompson; Casey Newton; Dan Rather; David Eagleman; David Farrier; Edwin Dorsey; Emily Atkin; Ethan Siegel; George Saunders; Glenn Greenwald; Heather Cox Richardson; Helen Lewis; Hunter Harris; Kara Swisher; Lenny Rachitsky; Matt Taibbi; Matthew Yglesias; Michael Faraday; Neil deGrasse Tyson; Richard Dawkins; Rob Henderson; Robert Reich; Rosamund Dean; Salman Rushdie; Sam Harris; Simon K Jones. Selected 35 of 541 available items for this weekly brief.