Life is so much better with music. Aficionados of Wes Anderson films know this truth well. His soundtracks are as enriching as his cinematography. But everyday life does not come with a soundtrack. Or does it?

The firing of Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Andris Nelsons reflects the field's obsession with identity politics.

No one warned me, when I became a parent, about all the apps that would colonize my phone: the app for the baby monitor where I could gaze at my daughter, even when my husband and I finally had a night out. The app for the Snoo smart bassinet we rented in bleary-eyed desperation, which logged her sleep by the minute. The app where I logged her sleep manually because the Snoo was not accurate enough. And still, I remember thinking that I had been quite restrained. I mean, I didn't buy the $299 Owlet smart sock, which would send her pulse rate and oxygen saturation directly to my phone, or the...