This American Life episode features an interview with Zach Mack, who recounts a unique bet with his father. The bet involved ten predictions about 2024 political events, with a $10,000 wager. Zach's father, deeply entrenched in online conspiracy theories, believed his predictions would prove his worldview correct; Zach saw it as a way to bridge their fractured relationship. The episode details the year-long bet, the family dynamics impacted by the father's beliefs, and the ultimate outcome, revealing the complexities of familial relationships strained by differing realities. Despite Zach winning the bet, the underlying issues remain unresolved, highlighting the difficulty of changing deeply held beliefs.
