  Results of the mathematical treatment of the radiation by the superluminally
moving current sheet in the magnetosphere of a neutron star, which was
presented in Ardavan (2021, {\it MNRAS}, {\bf 507}, 4530), are explained here
in more transparent physical terms with the aid of illustrations. Not only do
these results provide an all-encompassing explanation for the salient features
of the radiation received from pulsars (its brightness temperature,
polarization, spectrum, profile with microstructure and with a phase lag
between the radio and gamma-ray peaks, and the discrepancy between the
energetic requirements of its radio and gamma-ray components), but they also
shed light on the putative energetic requirements of magnetars and the sources
of fast radio bursts and gamma-ray bursts.
