> a mutual friend introduced ghiglieri and vaillancourt when they were both in midlife, correctly predicting they would hit it off even though in some ways they are an unlikely pair. ghiglieri describes himself as "white-collar, catholic background," while vaillancourt jokingly calls herself a "new age hippie." he is a silver-haired c-suite executive in the life sciences industry. she is a nonviolent-communication coach with long dark curls. they live in the san francisco bay area together. > early in their relationship, during the 2016 democratic presidential primary, they volunteered together for vaillancourt's political hero at the time, bernie sanders. > vaillancourt, a natural health enthusiast, has influenced ghiglieri's diet and supplement regimen, while he has tried to persuade her of the benefits of modern medicine. > the couple's differences, however, were exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. they disagreed on the government's response and vaccines. and things grew tense in the summer of 2020 as they were stuck at home together. > fall of the cabal argues that the world is not what it seems and that the media has suppressed the truth. it promotes the baseless claim that an elite group, including well-known democrats and hollywood figures, tortures children and consumes a chemical in their blood for its antiaging properties. > as vaillancourt watched, her initial skepticism gave way to a feeling of devastation. she was relieved when the final episodes claimed a group of government insiders was working on a plan to take down the cabal with then-president donald trump's help. the narrator called the president a "genius, a 5-d chess player, a man with a huge heart." a "golden age" was on the way.
United States