Clay weekly context brief for the Substack category (ISO week 2026-W38). 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: WE are the leaders weve been waiting for Source: Robert Reich Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-we-are-the-leaders Avoiding the traps and understanding what must be done now 2. September 12, 2026 Source: Heather Cox Richardson Link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-12-2026 On Thursday, in The New Republic, conservative judge J. 3. What Ive learned after a year covering housing Source: Matthew Yglesias Link: https://www.slowboring.com/p/what-ive-learned-after-a-year-covering Abundance is mainstream, but it is fragile. 4. The Founder Building an Actual Unicorn Source: Bari Weiss Link: https://www.thefp.com/p/founder-gene-editing-start-up-unicorns Critics say Josie Zayners gene-editing start-up is messing with Mother Nature. She said, Being a god is just being 100 years in the future. 5. A Note To Our Readers And Listeners Source: Andrew Sullivan Link: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/a-note-to-our-readers-and-listeners Welcome to the newest iteration of the Dish, 2026-2027 6. Welcoming Jennifer Lawrence to Instagram Source: Hunter Harris Link: https://hunterharris.substack.com/p/welcoming-jennifer-lawrence-to-instagram We can call this tech reporting. 7. Who is brave enough to stand up to Trump? Source: Anand Giridharadas Link: https://the.ink/p/who-is-brave-enough-to-stand-up-to My conversations with Jacob Weisberg and Robert P. Jones 8. Donald the Desperate Source: Dan Rather Link: https://steady.substack.com/p/donald-the-desperate How to beat Trumps schemes for suppressing the vote 9. On Escaping This Horrible Era Source: Matt Taibbi Link: https://www.racket.news/p/on-escaping-this-horrible-era Some people love living in a binary. What about the rest of us? 10. Some Thoughts on Non-Fiction Source: George Saunders Link: https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/some-thoughts-on-non-fiction Office Hours 11. Can we be certain that time really exists? Source: Ethan Siegel Link: https://startswithabang.substack.com/p/can-we-be-certain-that-time-really We experience time as real. But what if it's only an illusion: an illusion that's inherently relative? Does time fundamentally even exist? 12. Marriageable Women, Informants, Ego-Shock Source: Rob Henderson Link: https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/marriageable-women-informants-ego Links and recommendations 13. The iPhone Duo, The Intelligent Personal Hub, Apple Watch Audio Intelligence Source: Ben Thompson Link: https://stratechery.com/2026/the-iphone-duo-the-intelligent-personal-hub-apple-watch-audio-intelligence/ Apple once again demonstrated the power of integrating hardware and software, but it's biggest AI blindspot might be its belief in the primacy of apps. 14. StarTalk Live comes to the 92NY Stage Source: Neil deGrasse Tyson Link: https://startalk.substack.com/p/startalk-live-comes-to-the-92ny-stage Buy tickets now and get a signed copy of Lost in Space! 15. s4e16: The Exercise of Vital Powers Source: Simon K Jones Link: https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/s4e16-the-exercise-of-vital-powers Touch this, touch this, touch THIS 16. The AI warnings are coming from inside the lab Source: Casey Newton Link: https://www.platformer.news/openai-astra-warning-alignment-monitoring-pachocki/ Frontier labs make for lousy messengers on AI safety but it would be foolish to ignore them 17. How we built Grok Bot in a month | Roman Ugarte (SpaceXAI) Source: Lenny Rachitsky Link: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-we-built-grok-bot-in-a-month Listen now | Roman Ugarte of SpaceXAI on going from first line of code to the worlds hottest AI product in seven weeks, and what it really takes to win in the most competitive market ever 18. Meet Alan Source: David Farrier Link: https://www.webworm.co/alan/ This big beautiful dog got thrown out of a van. Now he needs a home. 19. The Bear Cave #342 Source: Edwin Dorsey Link: https://thebearcave.substack.com/p/the-bear-cave-342 New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week 20. Weekly Q&A with Glenn Greenwald Source: Glenn Greenwald Link: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/weekly-q-and-a-with-glenn-greenwald-f16 A recording from Glenn Greenwald's live video 21. Oil executives just accidentally exposed the industrys greatest weakness Source: Emily Atkin Link: https://heated.world/p/oil-executives-just-accidentally To keep drilling, Big Oil needs permission to dump treated fracking wastewater into rivers and onto cropland. We dont have to give it to them. 22. 432: The apex predator of centrism Source: Helen Lewis Link: https://helenlewis.substack.com/p/432-the-apex-predator-of-centrism I also, hauntingly, owe thirty bucks to MrBeast 23. The Suicide of the Left (Ep. 491) Source: Sam Harris Link: https://samharris.substack.com/p/the-suicide-of-the-left-ep-491 A Conversation with James Kirchick 24. How to raise healthy eaters - without losing your mind Source: Rosamund Dean Link: https://rosamunddean.substack.com/p/joe-wicks-podcast Joe Wicks insists mealtimes dont have to be a battleground 25. Online Meetup Tues Aug 11 @ 9:30 am PT Source: David Eagleman Link: https://davideagleman.substack.com/p/online-meetup-tues-aug-11-930-am Looking forward to seeing you there 26. When Artificial Intelligence Is Too Valuable To Sell Source: Kara Swisher Link: https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/when-artificial-intelligence-is-too Just because the AI labs have sold models on a meter until now doesn't mean they'll always do so. 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. All the Good Stuff You're Missing on Culture Study Source: Anne Helen Petersen Link: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/all-the-good-stuff-youre-missing Its all over at Culture Studys new home on Patreon. 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. Isnt a 10 percent threat of extinction too high? Source: Robert Reich Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/isnt-a-10-percent-threat-of-extinction A time for action 32. September 11, 2026 Source: Heather Cox Richardson Link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-11-2026 Last night was the second night of the Republican midterm convention Trump staged to fire up his base. 33. Friday discussion post Source: Matthew Yglesias Link: https://www.slowboring.com/p/friday-discussion-post-178 What I am reading and watching on 9/11 34. Two Drinks with . . . San Franciscos Knight in Shining Armor Source: Bari Weiss Link: https://www.thefp.com/p/two-drinks-michael-moritz-billionaire-san-francisco Billionaire Michael Moritz wants to make his city livable again. It got hijacked by a small group of political extremists, he said. 35. Azam Ahmed On The Aftermath Of 9/11 Source: Andrew Sullivan Link: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/azam-ahmed-on-the-aftermath-of-911 A rising reporting star talks about his time in occupied Afghanistan, as well as the rise of terrifying new synthetic drugs in Estonia and the pogroms in the West Bank. Listen now on the Dishcast. 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 549 available items for this weekly brief.