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 unexplained.

Well, I really hope, wherever in the world you are, that life is good.

I know that there are so many challenges.

Whether challenges at the moment with hurricanes

and financial challenges with people feeling the squeeze,

you know, a lot of things for a lot of people to worry about.

And I notice that when I go out shopping these days,

when I go in my local community, fewer and fewer people appear to smile.

And when I see that, that worries me because I was born in Liverpool, right?

And in Liverpool, everybody's a comic.

It is the most characterful city, perhaps with the exception of New York in the world, I believe.

And I was very lucky to have been born and brought up there.

And I kind of expect people to acknowledge each other and to smile

and there seems to be less and less of that.

So I think we are becoming a worried world.

And if I can be anything of a distraction from that,

even if only for an hour or so at time, then, you know, maybe that's a service.

I don't know, you tell me.

Now, looking out of the window here in London,

it is very autumnal looking, which is bizarre because I'm recording this

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