A $10,000 bet on reality - and family

A Strange Bet puts a price on family disagreement. In the NPR podcast, journalist Zach Mack wagers 10k even with his conspiracy theory soaked father, that ten of his dad’s apocalyptic predictions won’t come true within a year. Among the theories, Obama would be convicted of treason, the US world would be subjected to martial law, and Trump would be reinstated as president without an election.

Journalists have long struggled with making themselves the story. Entire generations were schooled never to use the word ‘I’ in copy and told their job was to report on others, not navel gaze. Be detached. Dispassionate. Mack missed that class. And the result is an intimate, unsettling and sad exploration about how misinformation not only fractures views of the world, but fractures families too.

As the episodes progress the bet becomes less about who is right (no spoilers here but I think you know) and more about whether relationships and families can survive when people no longer agree on what’s real. Alternate opinions aren’t harmless in this case they create alternative realities. And what Mack delicately shows, is that those realities aren’t based on stupidity or gullibility but instead that are based on loss, misperception and a desire to be heard. Emotions are weaponised. Familiar and social fabric is torn. Despite the truth, no one wins.