About this episode
The episode explores Neuro-Linguistic Programming and its controversial applications in various fields, including its origins and key figures.
What if someone told you that you could skip years of therapy with a few mental tricks? It sounded impossible… until we found Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP is a form of hypnosis beloved by everyone from sex cults to the U.S. military to fortune 500 companies–yet almost no one knows it exists. Long before she co-founded NXIVM, hypnotist Nancy Salzman encountered NLP as a radical method for reprogramming the mind. Her story leads us to its inventor, Richard Bandler, a volatile, self-made guru. As we dig into how it took hold in so many places, we face an unsettling possibility: NLP might actually work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
People in this episode
Host: Richard Bandler
Topics covered
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming
- hypnosis
- therapy
- mind reprogramming
- self-help
- cult influence
Keywords
- NLP
- hypnosis
- therapy
- Nancy Salzman
- Richard Bandler
- self-help
- mind tricks
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NXIVM, U.S. military, fortune 500 companies
More episodes of Mind Games
- Meeting Bandler · March 17, 2026 · 47 min
- NXIVM · March 10, 2026 · 39 min
- The Pickup Artist Playbook · March 3, 2026 · 36 min
- Murder in Santa Cruz · February 24, 2026 · 38 min
- A Human Technology · February 17, 2026 · 27 min
- The Self-Help Empire · February 10, 2026 · 38 min
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