I Survived the Unsurvivable | From A Slight Change of Plans

The Moth

Arts, Performing Arts

4.6 • 25.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At age nine, poet Javier Zamora began a harrowing 3,000-mile journey from El Salvador to the United States. More than twenty years later, he shared his story, revisiting the fear, endurance, and quiet courage he experienced as a child navigating an unimaginable change. This episode is from A Slight Change of Plans, hosted by cognitive scientist and bestselling author Dr. Maya Shankar. On A Slight Change of Plans, Maya explores how we experience change and provides strategies we can use to better navigate moments of upheaval. Whether it’s a sudden pivot or a slow transformation, each episode reveals how change can give us an opportunity to reimagine who we are and unlock greater possibility. Find A Slight Change of Plans wherever you get podcasts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Babe, it's Gem.
0:02.0	Just voice-noting you because I'm so busy.
0:05.0	I can't even type right now.
0:06.8	I'm working on that big presentation for my new launch.
0:10.3	I'm making it on Canva Mobile like you suggested.
0:13.1	And it's making everything iconic.
0:16.6	So it's a bit noisy, babe's mabts is going off.
0:20.3	Anyways, I'm going to ping the presentation to you now so you can see what I mean.
0:25.1	Got to go, hon.
0:27.3	Thanks for introducing me to Canva.
0:29.3	Love you.
0:30.1	This is your latest project.
0:33.3	It's heavy with information, data, and exactly 36 pages of waffle.
0:39.3	But with Acrobat Studio, you can create a PDF space,
0:43.3	an AI-powered workspace that turns documents into summaries and insights
0:47.3	and even generates reports or presentations out of it.
0:50.3	So you can cut through the waffle, work smarter, and save time.
0:55.2	Do that with Acrobat. Learn more and try it out on Adobe.com.
1:02.6	Hey listeners, if you come to The Moth for heartfelt, interesting stories that you can
1:07.2	really sit with and learn from, this episode from our friends at a slight change of plans will feel familiar.
1:13.7	At age nine, poet Javier Zamora began a harrowing 3,000-mile journey from El Salvador to the United States.
1:20.6	More than 20 years later, he shared his story, one of loneliness, anxiety, and resilience,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Moth, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Moth and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.