In “Bluetooth Speakers Are Ruining Music,” The Atlantic’s Michael Owens takes an historical lens to our evolving relationship with music, notes the relatively recent tug-of-war between quality and convenience, and accurately identifies the audio industry’s enduring fixation with “fidelity.”

I had been hoping to avoid it forever, but I finally came down with covid. Coronavirus? Whatever’s it called these days. I had never had it.

There was a moment early in my infatuation with Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS when it occurred to me that I could be listening to [cue Beethoven’s Symphony No.5: dun-dun-dun DUNNNNN…] My Favorite Album of 2025.