This morning, iTunes started popping-up an alert window that says "Unable to connect to iTunes purchases." The window also has a 20-second countdown to the window automatically being dismissed.
My connection to the iTunes store works fine. The very few songs I've ever purchased still play. Podcasts seem updated (though, I note that, at some point over the past year, the listings have become links to streams, rather than downloads)
Beats me what's up with iTunes. Server issues on Apple's end? Admittedly, I'm running an ancient version of iTunes, but I'm stuck in time on this Mac.