The Pickup Artist Playbook

Meeting Bandler

After following Neuro-Linguistic Programming from a groovy West Coast commune to the inner circles of NXIVM, we track down its elusive creator, Richard Bandler. Our search leads us to a London seminar, where Alice experiences his techniques firsthand. Finally, we hear from the man himself and decide once and for all if NLP is a tool worth using, or a pseudoscientific hustle best left alone. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

NXIVM

How did Neuro-Linguistic Programming become an indoctrination tool for one of the most notorious sex cults of the 21st century? Co-founder Nancy Salzman reveals how she brought NLP to NXIVM, and how leader Keith Raniere—now serving a 120-year sentence for sex trafficking and other crimes—turned the methods against her.     See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The Pickup Artist Playbook

A new group of fans flocked to NLP in the 90s: pickup artists. At the center of the movement was Ross Jeffries, a hypnotist and purported expert in getting women into bed. Jeffries lets Zoë in on the secret to his success, as she and Alice grapple with the realization that maybe they, as journalists, have more in common with pickup artists than they’d like to admit. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Murder in Santa Cruz

Three people walked into a room…only two came out alive. In 1986, Richard Bandler was charged with murdering a woman in his inner circle. We dig into the trial that nearly sank Neuro-Linguistic Programming, the unsolved mystery of what really happened that night, and how Bandler walked away acquitted while the technique he fathered only grew more infamous.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

A Human Technology

In the 1980s, the U.S. Army was in a weird place. So weird, it was willing to hire Richard Bandler and Tony Robbins to try to turn ordinary soldiers into expert marksmen in just a few days with NLP. Zoë hits the shooting range with an NLP expert to see if she can become a sharpshooter. Plus, the little-known NLP backstory behind another psychological technique the military still actively uses: EMDR. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.