System.InvalidOperationException: IDX20803: Unable to obtain configuration from: 'System.String'

Found the problem. The Authority property was set incorrectly.

        services.AddAuthentication(options =>
        {
            options.DefaultAuthenticateScheme = JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme;
            options.DefaultChallengeScheme = JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme;
        }).AddJwtBearer(options =>
        {
            options.Authority = "Auth0 domain"; // this was in correct
            options.Audience = ....
        });

Copied code from two different samples and mixed up the key for the authority.

Bad error message.