Podcasts like Clarkesworld Magazine

"Non-Zero Probabilities" is a speculative fiction short story by N.K. Jemisin, published in 2009 in Clarkesworld Magazine. The story features a semi-apocalyptic New York City where the laws of probability have shifted, and follows a young woman as she navigates a world driven by belief systems. Thematically, the short story deals largely with identity, belief, and society. It was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and was later published in other collections, including Jemisin's How Long 'til Black Future Month? anthology.

In East New York, for unknown reasons, life has become dictated by improbability and superstition. The most unlikely events have become the most likely, from highly improbable dice throws to serious infrastructure failure. Some effects are deemed good: massive lottery wins, sports successes, and cancer remissions. Others are not. Multiracial Adele uses prayers for a Christian god as well as African orishas, a selection of herbs, a Saint Christopher medal, and a collection of lucky objects as part of her daily ritual. As she walks to work, she encounters a shuttle train that has jumped the tracks because of a wrench left there (an event with a million to one odds), causing horrible carnage, and stops to help.