Across the UK, across continental North America,

and around the world, on the internet, by webcast and by podcast,

my name is Howard Hughes and this is the return of the unexplained.

Thank you very much, as ever, for keeping the faith with my show

and as I said those words. Maybe it's an omen, a shaft of sunlight.

Hit my face here where I'm recording this and that is

very gratefully received. Hope the weather's good where you are and hope life is good too.

Now let me just explain before I go any further with this edition.

This is recorded about 10 days or so. Maybe a little more before you hear it.

And as I'm recording, I've got a little bit of a bug at the moment.

It's almost like a kind of strange, fluid type thing that's affected my throat and my voice.

So if I'm not entirely sounding like I normally sound,

that is the explanation for that. I guess these things are sent to try us.

Periodically they hit all of us.

And it put me out of action for a couple of days this week and I'm trying right now

to get back into the swing of things.

But that's why I don't entirely sound like myself.

But you know, I'm going to use microphone technique to try and sound like me

if that's possible, if that's a good thing.

I'm going to do a lot of shoutouts on this edition.

Let me apologize if I can't get to yours and let me say straight away,

there is one person who specifically asked for a shoutout.

...