Reset the Algorithm

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 redefini...

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...

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 ...

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"...

This week on Reset the Algorithm, we talk with Omar Barghouti, the Co-founder of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. The clarity and focus with which Omar expresses the goals of Palestinian Liberation is incredibly admirable. With this organization, they aim to utilize peaceful tactics to place pressure on repressive institutions in an effort to end complacency and free...

In this bonus episode of Reset the Algorithm curated in partnership with Mother Tongue Magazine, Moj Mahdara sits down for an emotional and heart-felt conversation with Rabbi Sharon Brous and Patrisse Cullors. 

As we see our world more and more divided everyday, the economy of empathy feels in recession. Creating coalition and holding space for one another’s pain feels like the only way forward. In this exchange Rabbi Brous sha...

This week Moj sits down with Sara Wahedi, Tech-founder and CEO of Afghanistan’s first civic-tech start-up; Ehtesab. In her goal to democratize access to life saving information across the globe regardless of where they live or what they do. Her incredible work with Ehtesab has lent Sara platforms to speak on the injustices faced by Women in Afghanistan and across the Middle East at the hands of extremist governments. Her work on th...

In this conversation with the very funny Alex Edelman, we talked about how comedy can be healing and a way for us to see through our differences. In his latest show, now available on HBO, Alex describes his experience attending a white nationalist meeting in NYC…as a Orthodox Jewish man. The stories that follows shows the brilliance of Alex’s humor. Aside from being hilarious, he is excellent at building bridges and showing us all ...

This week we visited the world of entrepreneurship and venture capital with my friend Sophia Amoruso. Sophia has always done things her way and her curiosity and desire to learn are the keys to her success. This makes her latest transition into venture capital an easy one. Supporting founders with advice acquired through lived experiences is priceless. 

In this conversation we touch on how success and failure shape us and the i...

Gissou Nia is a human rights lawyer who has dedicated her life to the protection and justice of civilians affected by war and conflict. In a lot of ways, the work she does is as close to a real-life superhero as we get and her work spans across continents around the globe. 

In this conversation, we speak about her work as a lawyer as well as her work as an activist, a distinction that might be hard for us all to make, but for G...

This conversation with Elica Le Bon, an Iranian Activist from the UK, was one that was heavily requested by our listeners! As a vocal political commentator on her platforms, Elica has developed a following for her takes on political issues, particularly in the Middle East. In this exchange we speak candidly about traumas as Middle Easterners, what it is like living in the diaspora, what solutions we hope to see, and how the politic...

This conversation with Jessica Malaty Rivera is incredibly expansive. We go on a learning journey together that emphasizes the need to hold space for different opinions and grow our understandings of other perspectives; all in an effort to build bridges. Although this episode is a censored version of what we really wanted to share, as it stands, it is still a conversation that is so desperately needed right now.

This first anonymous episode came about because of the immense reaction our audience had to our offer for a digital safe space. Never did we dream of so many form submissions from so many unique backgrounds. This episode is an exact representation of how our audience shapes our work. Reading through your experiences, what has you frustrated, what you are enjoying, what you hated...all of it plays a role in how we produce each episo...

In this conversation with Patrisse Cullors, an author, an artist, an activist and the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, we explore the role and at times power of trauma in activism; and the dire need for courageous conversations. Speaking through the conflicts plaguing our world today, we delve into the importance of sitting with others and making space for shifting collective shapes to create a new way forward. We also open up abo...

Join Alon-Lee Green, Co-Director of Standing Together, an organization fighting for Palestinian / Israeli peace, as he delves into the heart of the current conflict. From dissecting challenges of Israeli democracy to confronting discrimination, this episode uncovers the layers of complexity often overlooked. Explore the rise of extremism, the urgent call for peace, and the daunting hurdles Israel faces in the Middle East. Alon-lee'...

In this debut episode, join Moj Mahdara as they provide context to why this podcast came to be. From their experiences as a first-generation Iranian American to navigating cultural and societal expectations as a non-binary individual, Moj reflects on being a disrupter by nature. From the challenges of navigating cultural expectations to confronting societal injustices, Moj's story transcends boarders and invites listeners into a ra...