What Do EMDR, Tony Robbins, and NXIVM Have in Common? NLP - The Story
TechStuff
iHeartPodcasts
4.3 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we're talking 'human technology' — specifically, neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP. If you have any interest in modern day cults like NXIVM or Twin Flames Universe, you may have heard of it. But did you know that NLP also has roots in therapeutic practices like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, or that Tony Robbins was an NLP practitioner before becoming a motivational speaker?
In the new podcast Mind Games, journalists and best friends Alice Hines and Zoë Lescaze investigate the origins of NLP, from its roots in the new age movement in 1970s California through the pick-up artist trend of the early 2000s. They even try their hand at hypnotizing themselves. But does it work?
Check out Mind Games from Kaleidoscope and iHeartPodcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:17.6 | Welcome to Tech Stuff. |
| 0:19.2 | On this show, we talk a lot about technology that lives outside of us. |
| 0:24.6 | Computers, microchips, satellites, data centers. But today, we're going to talk about something built as a human technology. |
| 0:32.9 | Specifically, neurolinguistic programming, or NLP, which shows up everywhere from hypno-births to Tony |
| 0:38.8 | Robbins to the Nixium cult. But does it actually work? Our guest today are the hosts of Mind |
| 0:45.0 | Games, which is a co-production of Collidoscope and I-Hart Podcasts. Alice Hines and Zoe Lascars are both |
| 0:50.7 | journalists and professional skeptics who met at a shamanic sound meditation. |
| 0:57.0 | Zoe is a science journalist and Alice has exposed various wellness scams and cults. |
| 1:01.4 | So they are the perfect pair to tackle a practice that is both revered and maligned. |
| 1:06.8 | So let's jump in. Welcome, Alice. |
| 1:08.5 | Thank you so much. Great to see you, Oz. |
| 1:10.5 | Great to see you, Alice. And welcome Zoe. |
| 1:12.4 | Thanks so much. Thanks for having us. |
| 1:13.8 | It's a special day today. I'm holding a copy of the New York Post. |
| 1:19.9 | What does it feel like to see yourselves and the show covered in the New York Post? |
| 1:24.1 | I'm incredibly flattered. There's a picture of me and Zoe. |
| 1:31.5 | Zoe is shooting a target at, |
| 1:36.8 | what range was that, Zoe? That was a shooting range in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and the target was 75 feet away. Oh, shoot, boggles the mind is the headline, novice to gun expert in three days. |
| 1:45.8 | I'm just relieved they didn't drag us through the mud, although we would have been in very |
| 1:49.3 | illustrious company if they had with the Bernie Sanders's of the world. So, all as well, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.