Another funky issue that might be related to the sluggish macOS timeline: the "Media pending" screen in the Program panel won't resolve on its own (even after a long wait) for some media that once loaded fine. These clips have thumbnail previews loaded on the timeline already. When I replace a pending clip on the timeline with the source file from the Project panel and immediately undo with Command + Z, the issue suddenly resolves.
Mod note: Post title is changed to reflect the second issue Mary is facing.