Occasional magic: true stories about defying the impossible

Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth, and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of live storytelling, Occasional Magic features voices familiar and new as storytellers from around the world share times when, in the face of challenging situations, they found moments of beauty, wonder, and clarity, shedding light on their lives and helping them find a path forward.

Foreword / Meg Wolitzer -- Introduction / Catherine Burns -- PUT YOUR CURRY DOWN, SWEETHEART. Quiet fire / Phyllis Marie Bowdwin ; Real men don't rob banks / Liel Leibovitz ; Opposing forces / Martha Ruiz-Perilla ; Me and Mama vs. Christmas / Peter Aguero ; Theory of change / Journey Jamison ; Before Fergus / Lynn Ferguson ; Spicy / David Montgomery -- THE PAIN OF THE JUMP IS NOTHING. What I wore to my divorce / Faith Salie ; Leaving Baghdad / Abbas Mousa ; The value of words / Maris Blechner ; How to say it / Bess Stillman ; "Have you met him yet?" / David Litt ; C'est la vie / Terrance Flynn ; The magic of Maggie / Larry Kerr -- THIS PLACE IS BOLD, THIS PLACE IS BRAVE. Until the real you shows up / Roseanne Cash ; Surviving Comrade Stalin / Victor Levenstein ; Outdoor Camp / Vin Shambry ; I know it by heart / Emma Gordon ; Living in the extreme / Ann Daniels ; The haunted freezer / George Dawes Green ; When the heart is full / Fatou Wurie -- ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT WALL. The Freedom Riders and me / Barbara Collins Bowie ; Curses / Jon Bennett ; Bearing witness / D. Parvaz ; And how does that make you feel? / Dan Kennedy ; A moment in silence / Leland Melvin ; Seven shades of b…