Clay weekly context brief for the Substack category (ISO week 2026-W40). 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: Nauseous Optimism Source: Robert Reich Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-nauseous-optimism Looking toward November 3 2. September 26, 2026 Source: Heather Cox Richardson Link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-26-2026 Trumps war on the free press is continuing. 3. Community Wisdom: AI doomerism, speeding up discovery in a big org, verifying engineering answers as a new PM, where analytics adds the most value, and more Source: Lenny Rachitsky Link: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/community-wisdom-ai-doomerism-speeding Community Wisdom 300 4. The map is melting Source: Matthew Yglesias Link: https://www.slowboring.com/p/the-map-is-melting A widening battlefield has Republicans bracing for a rough November. The partys anxiety is no longer hidden behind closed doors. 5. A first look inside MAN IN THE MIRROR Source: Anand Giridharadas Link: https://the.ink/p/a-night-living-in-penn-station An excerpt in The New Yorker, about a night I spent in Penn Station 6. The Princeton Philosophers Who Became Catholic. Plus . . . Source: Bari Weiss Link: https://www.thefp.com/p/the-princeton-philosophers-who-became Two drinks with Rachel Dolezal. Should a woman voice Aslan in Narnia? The lady who went on 50 first dates. And more! 7. Jacob Weisberg On Trumps Collaborators Source: Andrew Sullivan Link: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/jacob-weisberg-on-trumps-collaborators My old friend targets those who bent the knee to our elected monarch. Listen now on the Dishcast. 8. A New Story Source: George Saunders Link: https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/a-new-story-5a0 The Good Denis by Marie NDiaye 9. He Said, Xi Said Source: Dan Rather Link: https://steady.substack.com/p/he-said-xi-said Trump spent his day kowtowing 10. Listen to This Article: Trump is Wrong on Speech. Dont Forget the Backstory Source: Matt Taibbi Link: https://www.racket.news/p/listen-to-this-article-trump-is-wrong Narrated Version (8 mins) | This administrations speech messes have become an excuse to whitewash history 11. Donnie Darko offers a time travel lesson you wont find elsewhere Source: Ethan Siegel Link: https://startswithabang.substack.com/p/donnie-darko-offers-a-time-travel Most time travel stories involve changing the past to create a better future. "Donnie Darko" subverts that expectation, and a whole lot more. 12. An Interview with Colossus EIC Jeremy Stern About Profiling Mark Zuckerberg Source: Ben Thompson Link: https://stratechery.com/2026/an-interview-with-colossus-eic-jeremy-stern-about-profiling-mark-zuckerberg/ An interview with Colossus EIC Jeremy Stern about profiling Mark Zuckerberg and other prominent tech figures. 13. 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-db9 Live at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Glenn will answer your questions, all of which you can submit by commenting on this recurring post. 14. This Could Change The Way Victims Get Justice Source: David Farrier Link: https://www.webworm.co/tika/ Tika is also very bad news for those who have caused sexual harm to multiple people. 15. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan: Why Were Betting On AI And Not Afraid Of It Source: Kara Swisher Link: https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/youtube-ceo-neal-mohan-why-were-betting Mohan on AIs growing influence over what we watch, YouTubes approach to AI slop, and how working with Google DeepMind is changing the platform. 16. Doomsayers, Wage Premium, Self-Esteem Source: Rob Henderson Link: https://www.robkhenderson.com/p/doomsayers-wage-premium-self-esteem Event in Washington D.C. + links and recommendations 17. Muse is having a moment Source: Casey Newton Link: https://www.platformer.news/meta-muse-consumer-agents/ Are consumer agents the future or a mirage? 18. A Coin Toss for the Future (Ep. 494) Source: Sam Harris Link: https://samharris.substack.com/p/a-coin-toss-for-the-future-ep-494 A Conversation with Ryan Greenblatt 19. Why I turned down funding for my Miami story Source: Emily Atkin Link: https://heated.world/p/why-i-turned-down-funding-for-my Seven years in, HEATED still answers only to its readers. 20. Reid and Jones #1: Can we write without serialising? Source: Simon K Jones Link: https://simonkjones.substack.com/p/reid-and-jones-1-can-we-write-without Dont call it a comeback 21. Has dark matter finally been brought to light? Source: Neil deGrasse Tyson Link: https://startalk.substack.com/p/has-dark-matter-finally-been-brought Plus, Neil plays smart games and wins smart prizes 22. The Bear Cave #344 Source: Edwin Dorsey Link: https://thebearcave.substack.com/p/the-bear-cave-344 New Activist Reports, Recent Resignations, and Tweets of the Week 23. Boycotting Ed Sheeran For Regular Reasons (No Talent) and Woke Reasons Source: Hunter Harris Link: https://hunterharris.substack.com/p/ed-sheeran-macklemore-backlash The Friday Post. 24. 434: Behold my p(doom) Source: Helen Lewis Link: https://helenlewis.substack.com/p/434-behold-my-pdoom From Hugging Face to Navier-Stokes, why everyone is freaking out about AI 25. The September reset Source: Rosamund Dean Link: https://rosamunddean.substack.com/p/the-september-reset-healthy-eating-nutrition Ready for a fresh start? Ive got you 26. 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 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. The Rahm Bomb Source: Robert Reich Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-rahm-bomb Hes the single worst Democratic hopeful now (almost) running for president. Democratic midterm candidates be warned: stay away from him. 32. National Lobster Day Source: Heather Cox Richardson Link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/national-lobster-day September 25, 2026 33. Opus 5.5 vs. GPT-6 Sol: which model won my blind taste test? Source: Lenny Rachitsky Link: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/opus-55-vs-gpt-6-sol-which-model Watch now (39 mins) | I ran blind evaluations across writing, frontend prototypes, long-running agentic tasks, SVGs, coding, and video editing, then put Opus 5.5 through Barbie Bench 34. Friday discussion post Source: Matthew Yglesias Link: https://www.slowboring.com/p/friday-discussion-post-a94 Some takes to end your work week 35. A conversation the internet couldnt have Source: Anand Giridharadas Link: https://the.ink/p/a-conversation-the-internet-couldnt On the humanity beneath the headlines, and an invitation 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.