Many phrases, such as the term redpill, have been co-opted by mainstream conservatives for further the notion that they stand for something or have principles that are in contrast to that of the corporatists left. I promise you they do not. For that reason, learn about The Cathedral from the father of the phrase, before Mitt Romney says it means something that it clearly does not.
“The cathedral” is just a short way to say “journalism plus academia”—in other words, the intellectual institutions at the center of modern society, just as the Church was the intellectual institution at the center of medieval society.
But the label is making a point. The Catholic Church is one institution—the cathedral is many institutions. Yet the label is singular. This transformation from many to one—literally, e pluribus unum—is the heart of the mystery at the heart of the modern world.
From Gray Mirror