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

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 [https://www.instagram.com/mariaevbowler/] reflections on creativity and slowing down. * Support RIP Medical Debt [https://unduemedicaldebt.org/] — 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 [https://katebowler.com/about/] Listen Kate's Podcast "Everything Happens" [https://katebowler.com/podcasts/] Follow Kate on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/katecbowler/] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@katecbowler] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@katecbowler?lang=en] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-bowler]   For more episodes and resources, click here [https://www.mojmahdara.com/podcast] Missed Episode 2? Go catch up before diving into this one. Click here [https://www.mojmahdara.com/podcast/season-2-episode-2-pinky-cole-how-i-lost-it-all-and-came-back-bigger]   ✦ Connect with Moj✦ * Get raw insights, behind-the-scenes moments & exclusive clips on Substack: Moj Mahdara [https://mojmahdara.substack.com/welcome] * Watch full episodes on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ResetTheAlgorithm] * Follow Moj on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/moj] | Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@mojmahdara] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mojmahdara/] | Twitter/X [https://x.com/mojism] * Follow Reset the Algorithm on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/resetthealgorithm/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@resetthealgorithm]   🎧 Don’t just scroll—catch up before the next one drops.

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 Vegan * Why first-gen hustle culture is both a blessing and a burden * What Pinky’s learning about love, legacy, and letting go * How 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 [https://www.iampinkycole.com/] Follow Pinky on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/pinkycole/] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/PinkyCole907] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@iampinkycole] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinky-cole-879696a6/] |   For more episodes and resources, click here [https://www.mojmahdara.com/podcast] Missed Episode 1? Go catch up before diving into this one.  [Season 2 - Episode 1] [https://open.spotify.com/episode/3q7xyalvxFv2ymKpLADlXZ?si=li73lL05TFmYJCX1uuMX5w] ✦ Connect with Moj✦ Get raw insights, behind-the-scenes moments & exclusive clips on Substack: Moj Mahdara [https://mojmahdara.substack.com/welcome] Watch full episodes on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ResetTheAlgorithm] Follow Moj on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/moj] | Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@mojmahdara] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mojmahdara/] | Twitter/X [https://x.com/mojism] Follow Reset the Algorithm on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/resetthealgorithm/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@resetthealgorithm]

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 everyone * How colonialism and binary thinking go hand in hand * What it means to create culture instead of conform to it * The 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 [https://alokvmenon.com/] Follow Alok on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alokvmenon] | YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG_G2mCoGdNUIOPaPrgorHg] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@alokvmenon] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alokvmenon/] For more episodes and resources, click here [https://www.mojmahdara.com/podcast] 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 [https://mojmahdara.substack.com/welcome] Watch full episodes on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ResetTheAlgorithm] Follow Moj on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/moj] | Tiktok [https://www.tiktok.com/@mojmahdara] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mojmahdara/] | Twitter/X [https://x.com/mojism] Follow Reset the Algorithm on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/resetthealgorithm/] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@resetthealgorithm] 🎧 Don’t just scroll—catch up before the next one drops.

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.

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!