Reset the Algorithm

Moj Mahdara
  • 4.7 (12)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Reset the Algorithm

Reset the Algorithm is a podcast and cultural space for honest, unfiltered conversations about the systems shaping our lives—and how to break them. Hosted by Moj Mahdara, each episode dives into stories of new beginnings, diaspora experiences, learning through failure, entrepreneurship, mental health, and bold business leadership. This is where culture, identity, and innovation meet. This is where we ask better questions. 🎙️ New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe now and start your reset!

  1. Pinky Cole on Failure, Legacy & Leading Through Fire

    1D AGO

    Pinky Cole on Failure, Legacy & Leading Through Fire

    Pinky Cole doesn’t do play-it-safe. And in this episode of Reset the Algorithm, she sits down with Moj Mahdara to break down the truth behind her empire - from her car! From restaurant fires and personal collapse to raising five kids and managing a media empire, Pinky opens up about the reality behind the headlines—and how she’s learning to lead without burning out. This episode is about failure, softness, and redefining what winning looks like when you’ve spent your whole life grinding. You’ll hear: How losing everything led to building Slutty VeganWhy first-gen hustle culture is both a blessing and a burdenWhat Pinky’s learning about love, legacy, and letting goHow to scale a business while staying rooted in purpose This one’s real, raw, and for anyone who's ever had to start over. Listen now. Share it with someone who needs a reset. ************* TIMESTAMPS 06:46 Full Circle: Healing Through TV Show 10:05 Organic Entrepreneurial Growth 10:50 Innovative Vegan Lifestyle Movement 14:41 Recognizing Personal Superpower 18:03 "Embracing Failure's Other Side" 22:43 Assess Partner Beyond Financial Aspects 25:51 Intentional Missteps in Small Business Strategy 27:47 Unsuccessful Startups' Hidden Stories 34:07 "Creating Opportunity Through Legacy" 41:22 Historic Shift: Women in Power 47:39 Empower Women Facing Conflict Globally ************* STAY IN TOUCH ✦ Today’s Guest: Pinky Cole ✦ Visit Pinky’s Website Follow Pinky on Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | LinkedIn |   For more episodes and resources, click here Missed Episode 1? Go catch up before diving into this one.  [Season 2 - Episode 1] ✦ Connect with Moj✦ Get raw insights, behind-the-scenes moments & exclusive clips on Substack: Moj Mahdara Watch full episodes on YouTube Follow Moj on Instagram | Tiktok | LinkedIn | Twitter/X Follow Reset the Algorithm on Instagram | TikTok

    52 min
  2. Beyond the Binary: ALOK on Power, Compassion, and Cultural Disobedience

    JUL 8

    Beyond the Binary: ALOK on Power, Compassion, and Cultural Disobedience

    We’re back! Season 2 of Reset the Algorithm opens with a bold and unflinching conversation between host Moj Mahdara and ALOK Vaid-Menon—a globally recognized writer, performer, and cultural theorist pushing the edges of identity, grief, and liberation.  This isn’t just an episode. It’s a call to disrupt the algorithm inside all of us. Together, Moj and ALOK challenge binaries—gender, power, politics—and offer a new way of seeing the world. They talk about the emotional toll of performance, the myth of neutrality, and why compassion might be the most strategic act of our time. You’ll hear: Why trans liberation benefits everyoneHow colonialism and binary thinking go hand in handWhat it means to create culture instead of conform to itThe role of joy in resistance—and the grief that comes with it. This is a powerful return, and we’re starting as we mean to go on: unfiltered, unapologetic, and ready to rewire how we think about power, identity, and presence. Hit play, share widely, and join us in Season 2 of rewriting the rules. We are Resetting Algorithms all over again! TIMESTAMPS [00:00:00] Alok on self-determination and authenticity [00:04:08] First meeting and the importance of visibility in non-normative spaces [00:08:05] Gender euphoria, joy, and self-actualization [00:16:08] Global perspectives on patriarchy, gender apartheid, and intersectionality [00:22:28] Toxic masculinity and healing models of gender [00:28:24] Breaking out of all binaries—beyond just gender [00:29:42] Compassion, transformation, and the possibility of love as a radical act [00:36:32] Power, safety, and authenticity for marginalized communities [00:42:52] The “we/us” pronoun—building solidarity and abolishing loneliness [00:46:40] Alok’s advice for resetting your own algorithm [00:48:07] Book and community recommendations    STAY IN TOUCH ✦ Today’s Guest: Alok Menon ✦ Visit Alok’s Website Follow Alok on Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn For more episodes and resources, click here Missed season 1? Go catch up—we dropped truths that still hit. ✦ Connect with Moj✦ Get raw insights, behind-the-scenes moments & exclusive clips on Substack: Moj Mahdara Watch full episodes on YouTube Follow Moj on Instagram | Tiktok | LinkedIn | Twitter/X Follow Reset the Algorithm on Instagram | TikTok 🎧 Don’t just scroll—catch up before the next one drops.

    51 min
  3. A2A: b. Robert Moore

    06/25/2024

    A2A: b. Robert Moore

    In the season finale episode of Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors sits down with the outspoken and artistically grounded b. Robert Moore, to discuss his upcoming debut museum exhibition, “In Loving Memory” at the Des Moines Art Center. This achievement is one that Moore, an autodidact visual artist, is humbled to have reached years ahead of what he projected for himself. When so often he hears people question the presence of the black community in Iowa, Moore embraces the challenge of “both memorializing and immortalizing my people”, he says in conversation with Patrisse. Moore opened his studio and exhibition to our production team here at Artist 2 Artist, for like us, he believes passionately about the accessibility of art. In fact, all of his public art works in Des Moines are seen only in the neighborhood in which he grew up!  This episode is a humble and poignant reminder that there is always an impact when we create, local or tidal. Patrisse and b. Moore’s discussions traverse the creation and execution of his show, the pieces displayed there, and how they’ve been innately influential over his process and personal growth, even in healing the most delicate and relatable aspects of his relationships… but Moore is not one to shy away from tough subjects. In fact, they often find themselves translated to a canvas. Perhaps though, that’s exactly where they are meant to be. As Moore shares the way he’s both endeavoring to protect his art practice, and yet ensure his foundation is built to honor his own right to rest and community, we are reminded that the way we relate to our creativity must reflect the way we relate to ourselves and our loved ones. It’s a romance, Moore jokes, but the joke is as grounded as his collection’s use of mud back when he first came on as an A2A guest… This special season finale episode is more than a chance to see some incredible work, and be infused with a deep sense of belonging, inspiration and humility; It is a reminder to step forward, right into the discomforting moment, trusting that the canvas and the paint and the community, that your artistic practice, will illuminate you for being so brave.  b. Robert Moore’s first museum exhibition, “In Loving Memory” is on view at Des Moines Art Center until October 20, 2024. Admission is free. This art truly is for all.

    41 min
  4. RTA/A2A: Reflections on Season 1 w/ our hosts - Moj Mahdara & Patrisse Cullors

    06/04/2024

    RTA/A2A: Reflections on Season 1 w/ our hosts - Moj Mahdara & Patrisse Cullors

    As our first season winds down, we are reflecting on what brought us together and led us to the creation of the shows you’ve seen on our platform. Reset the Algorithm and Artist 2 Artist are both unique shows with specific visions but one consistent through line can be seen in all that we produce; our dedication to social justice and equity. As queer creators of color, we see the need for change within our communities. Our goal as we built out each episode of season 1 was to see how social justice is being fought for in all different avenues of life. From supporting black female entrepreneurs in venture capital and fighting Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan to speaking with artists who created life changing music from behind prison walls, every episode showed us the magic that lives within human tenacity -  especially when used for the greater good of us all. Learning from the amazing Artists, Activists, Entrepreneurs, and Educators has inspired us in countless ways and we are bringing all of that inspiration and vision into an even more impactful Season 2 this fall. Stay with us as we keep fighting to ‘Reset the Algorithm’ for all of us!

    1h 11m
  5. A2A: Shahla Dorriz & alexandre ali reza dorriz

    05/28/2024

    A2A: Shahla Dorriz & alexandre ali reza dorriz

    This week on Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors joins a discussion of heritage, art and the resistance of reimagination with artists and mother-son duo, Shahla Dorriz and alexandre ali reza dorriz. "You're the only person in the world who could get my mom and I in a room together to do a podcast of all things”, ali reza says to Patrisse… and while that may be true, we are so grateful they came to chat. This episode is an authentic reminder of the importance of personal expression in conjunction with legacy, and how the representation of heritage can transform future generations through art. Shahla, a fashion designer and creative consultant, shares her journey to finding her most authentic artistic medium through fashion, and the importance of the multi-generational approach to her work that centers the inclusion of her Iranian heritage, often in collaboration with her son. Ali Reza, an artist with a research-based practice, sheds light both on his own work with Crenshaw Dairy Mart in Los Angeles, and his work in creating localized hubs for economic, artistic and agricultural autonomy for his community, but on the awe and inspiration instilled in him through both his own experience of his artistic practice and in the one that has been nurtured between himself and his mother. In conversation, the trio explore the waters of storytelling through fabric, the influence of the duo's Iranian heritage on their work, and both the challenges and rewards that arise when one sets an intention to preserve cultural design and promote diverse, unique perspectives within the fashion industry. This mother-son duo are an impactful showcase of how divergent ideas can curate something beautiful, created through that unique channel that each of us has access to; of how that channel becomes ever more powerful the more honest and collaborative we open ourselves to be. This episode reminds us all that artists have the ability to challenge oppressive systems, to create in a way that reminds consumers of times past from which they have the opportunity to learn, and that in embracing ourselves and the roots from which we grew, we become unshakably planted in our identity. "Value your work. If you know what you're working on and if you see that work as valuable, it is valuable."

    41 min
  6. Anonymous: Part 2

    05/21/2024

    Anonymous: Part 2

    Our Anon episodes are a direct result of the number of DMs our podcast channel and Moj’s personal channel receive about our content. Hearing your thoughts is vital to us and we read everything you submit via the Anon form as well as in our DMs.  We thought now would be a good time to do another one of these episodes since we are seeing the discomfort of our audience in real-time to the types of content we are putting out. What you can always depend on with us, the purpose of this show - is to break us all out of our digital echo-chambers. With that comes being stretched, being exposed to new ideas and at times hearing things you disagree with or that make you uncomfortable. It is hard - but we can all handle it. In this episode we talk through the difficulties of being on socials rn and what you can do to cope, the discomfort you all expressed in response to one of our recent releases and some Iranian Diaspora ☕ amongst other things.  If you want to share your thoughts with us, you can always submit to our anon form and we hope to read your feedback soon!

    41 min
  7. A2A: Shahrzad Changalvaee

    05/14/2024

    A2A: Shahrzad Changalvaee

    In this episode of Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors sits down with Iranian artist Shahrzad Changalvaee, to explore the role of art in the act of resistance under oppressive powers. Shahrzad shares her background and the experience of realizing one is an artist under the limiting and oppressive demands of the Iranian government during her childhood. In her early years as an artist, she was taught that "limitations beget creativity", and while there is value in those words for many of us who forsake our everyday freedom of expression, Patrisse and Shahrzad discuss the fortitude one must cultivate in order to question the sources that offer the words we internalize as artists, as an important step to individuation and independent expression, especially when art inevitably finds its way to becoming itself an act of resistance. Explore the use of language, in art and beyond, Patrisse and Shahrzad emphasize the power of the artist to build coalition, change, abolitionist practices and challenge the regimes that seek to silence or appropriate the artistic voice. Being an artist from Iran, under a restrictive government, may have been Shahrzad's beginnings, but in her work, she revolutionized her self expression and found the power of her voice and ability to create for not only herself, but the culture she wants to celebrate. In this episode, Patrisse and Shahrzad discuss how background and cultural identity play, effect, and cultivate an artist's identity, and the deeply personal journey of finding mediums and language to ensure that the perception of the art, matches its intent; "The artist is like a shapeshifter. The artist is the through line." Using collage, metal sculpture, photography and beyond, Shahrzad offers her art and story to us as itself an act of resistance, and reminds us that while limitations may present opportunity, the language we use both within ourselves and how we choose to express our unique perspective to others, is truly the choice that translates the most healing and revolutionary power, right from the source.

    49 min
  8. A2A: Shahrzad Changalvaee

    05/13/2024

    A2A: Shahrzad Changalvaee

    In this episode of Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors sits down with Iranian artist Shahrzad Changalvaee, to explore the role of art in the act of resistance under oppressive powers. Shahrzad shares her background and the experience of realizing one is an artist under the limiting and oppressive demands of the Iranian government during her childhood. In her early years as an artist, she was taught that "limitations beget creativity", and while there is value in those words for many of us who forsake our everyday freedom of expression, Patrisse and Shahrzad discuss the fortitude one must cultivate in order to question the sources that offer the words we internalize as artists, as an important step to individuation and independent expression, especially when art inevitably finds its way to becoming itself an act of resistance. Explore the use of language, in art and beyond, Patrisse and Shahrzad emphasize the power of the artist to build coalition, change, abolitionist practices and challenge the regimes that seek to silence or appropriate the artistic voice. Being an artist from Iran, under a restrictive government, may have been Shahrzad's beginnings, but in her work, she revolutionized her self expression and found the power of her voice and ability to create for not only herself, but the culture she wants to celebrate. In this episode, Patrisse and Shahrzad discuss how background and cultural identity play, effect, and cultivate an artist's identity, and the deeply personal journey of finding mediums and language to ensure that the perception of the art, matches its intent; "The artist is like a shapeshifter. The artist is the through line." Using collage, metal sculpture, photography and beyond, Shahrzad offers her art and story to us as itself an act of resistance, and reminds us that while limitations may present opportunity, the language we use both within ourselves and how we choose to express our unique perspective to others, is truly the choice that translates the most healing and revolutionary power, right from the source.

    49 min
See All (26)

4.7
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Reset the Algorithm is a podcast and cultural space for honest, unfiltered conversations about the systems shaping our lives—and how to break them. Hosted by Moj Mahdara, each episode dives into stories of new beginnings, diaspora experiences, learning through failure, entrepreneurship, mental health, and bold business leadership. This is where culture, identity, and innovation meet. This is where we ask better questions. 🎙️ New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe now and start your reset!

Information

  • Creator
    Moj Mahdara
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Moj Mahdara
  • Show Website
    Reset the Algorithm

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