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b'We all have at least some musical talent. But very few of us can play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz. His talent was rarefied, and at the tail end of the bell curve of musical ability \\u2013 that tiny sliver of the distribution where you find the true outliers. Outliers also exist with natural events: hurricane Katrina, for example, or the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. Such events are rare, but they often have outsized effects.\\nIn this hour we imagine the unimaginable \\u2013 including the unexpected events labeled \\u201cblack swans\\u201d \\u2013 and how we weigh the risk for any of them. Also, how a supervolcano explosion at Yellowstone National Park could obliterate the western U.S. but shouldn\\u2019t stop you from putting the park on your vacation itinerary.\\nGuests:\\n\\n\\nDonald Prothero \\u2013 Paleontologist, geologist, author of many books, among them, Catastrophes!: Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, and Other Earth-Shattering Disasters\\n\\n\\n\\nDawn Balmer \\u2013 Ornithologist at the British Trust for Ornithology\\n\\n\\nJake Lowenstern \\u2013 Geologist, USGS, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory\\n\\n\\nHank Heasler \\u2013 Yellowstone National Park geologist\\n\\n\\nAndrew Maynard \\u2013 Director of the Risk Science Center at the University of Michigan\\n\\nFirst released October 19, 2014.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'