Reset the Algorithm

Moj Mahdara
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. Resetting Faith and Failure: Kate Bowler on Love, Survival, and Belonging in Uncertain Times

    23시간 전

    Resetting Faith and Failure: Kate Bowler on Love, Survival, and Belonging in Uncertain Times

    Hungry for More? In this episode, Moj sits down with writer, historian, and thought leader Kate Bowler to explore what it means to live through crisis and still choose joy, ambition, and connection. From a stage 4 cancer diagnosis and unexpected survivorship to diasporic loneliness and cultural upheaval, Kate brings radical honesty to a conversation about faith, resilience, and rebuilding. This isn’t just another episode. It’s an invitation to question the stories we’ve been told about faith, failure, and what it means to keep going when the world—and your life—falls apart. You’ll hear: Why “everything happens for a reason” can do more harm than good How surviving can make you hungrier for life The failures—and the potential—of faith communities today What it means to create love and care in an individualistic world  Moj and Kate reset the algorithm on power, vulnerability, and what it means to belong to each other. This episode is for anyone navigating grief, seeking meaning, or trying to live courageously—even in the face of fear. 🎧 Hit play and step into Episode 3 of Reset the Algorithm. ************** TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Exploring New Beginnings and Growth 06:28 Cancer Fueled My Ambition 13:02 Overcoming Fear to Embrace Ambition 19:39 "Christian America and Cultural Division" 24:32 Mennonites: Community Through Interdependence 26:18 "19th Century: Faith, Charity, and Contradiction" 29:50 The Dangers of Answering Unanswerables 35:32 "Embrace Service, Reject Isolation" 37:05 "Self Care vs. Community Care" 40:36 Global Gender Apartheid Crisis 42:48 Women's Rights and Legal Challenges *************** RESOURCES Don’t miss the resources shared by Kate Bowler in this episode: Current favorite book: Cherished Belonging by Gregory Boyle Social Account recommendation: @mariaevbowler reflections on creativity and slowing down.Support RIP Medical Debt — an organization working to eliminate crushing medical debt for individuals and families across the US  *************** STAY IN TOUCH ✦ Today’s Guest: Kate Bowler ✦ Visit Kate’s Website Listen Kate's Podcast "Everything Happens" Follow Kate on Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | LinkedIn   For more episodes and resources, click here Missed Episode 2? Go catch up before diving into this one. Click here   ✦ Connect with Moj✦ Get raw insights, behind-the-scenes moments & exclusive clips on Substack: Moj MahdaraWatch full episodes on YouTubeFollow Moj on Instagram | Tiktok | LinkedIn | Twitter/XFollow Reset the Algorithm on Instagram | TikTok  🎧 Don’t just scroll—catch up before the next one drops.

    48분
  2. Pinky Cole on Failure, Legacy & Leading Through Fire

    7월 15일

    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

    52분
  3. Beyond the Binary: ALOK on Power, Compassion, and Cultural Disobedience

    7월 8일

    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.

    51분
  4. A2A: b. Robert Moore

    2024. 06. 25.

    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.

    41분
  5. A2A: Shahla Dorriz & alexandre ali reza dorriz

    2024. 05. 28.

    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."

    41분
  6. A2A: Shahrzad Changalvaee

    2024. 05. 14.

    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.

    49분
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소개

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!

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