Apps I haven’t opened are randomly in recent items

Well, the first thing that stands out is you have CleanMyMac installed which is a known cause of problems. Last time I looked, there were 7000+ posts on ASC related to CMM problems. Uninstall it according the their instructions.

Having to resort to " force quit " , to me, would indicate the Application(s) is not responding to a Normal Quit.

If that is the case the Application may in fact still be loaded / active.

1 - Restart in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.

2 - Safe Mode will also eliminate Third Party Software, extensions and drivers from loading 

3 - Does the issue present in this mode ?

4 - Sometimes a Safe Boot followed by a Normal Boot will just put things right.

Still issues ➡️

5 - If not - there could be something in the main User Account playing up. To further isolate this - Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac. Then log out of the Main User account and log into the dummy account and test again if the issue persists.

6 - If the issue is present in the dummy account - then, this appears to be a System Wide issue on the computer

Still issues ➡️

7 - Download the Application Etrecheck directly from the Developer.

This is a Diagnostic Tool that makes no changes to the computer.

It makes a coherent and readable inventory of both the Hardware and Software used on the computer 

The application is free or paid from added features. 

The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. 

Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - >>>> using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last ) <<<<

We can have a look at the report for possible issues and may have possible suggestions to resolve the issues.

XXXCEO wrote:

I can’t reproduce them at will either. Seems to happen at random although pretty quickly after clearing.

FWIW, booting into Safe Mode then restarting normally can clear up strange anomalies.

XXXCEO wrote:

I went into safe mode and didn’t have any issues. When I restarted back into normal it started again.

That pretty much points to a third-party app as the cause the problem. Which one I can't say. You can post an EtreCheck report as mentioned earlier.

Some applications may appeared to be Closed but in fact are still active and alive

Example >> the Mail Application appears closed ( Not appearing in Screen ) but is still loaded and active.

The caveat is the small black dot below the Application indicates it is still Loaded and Active.

Some Applications like Calculator will completely close when the Application is closed

Again, agree with Previous Contributor regarding BrickMyMac aka CleanMyMac.

Here we may each a fork in the road on Remedial Actions.

Predicated on Removing the Application as per Developer's Instructions First.

Specific to CleanMyMac 

Some Contributors suggest restarting in Recovery Mode and choosing to Reinstall the Operating System over  the existing installation. 

This may or may not replace elements of the Entire Operating System including the Home Folder ( User Account )  and replace any corrupted or removed elements of the Operating System and make things right.

Then there are Other Contributors ( like myself ) would suggest  from this link Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon.

Thereafter to start from scratch and install all Required Application directly from the Apple Apps Store or Directly from the Developer.

If going this route - I suggest Not using Startup Assist to migrate things back as this will probably Re-Introduce the existing  issue that existed when the TM Backup was made 

Is the User referring to and as per the image below

The latest Stable Version of Ventura is 13.1 >> if not already installed

XXXCEO wrote:

Upper left of the screen

Ahh. That Recent Items. I never look there so it's not something I think about. Don't know what could cause the symptoms you describe.

FWIW, I can't reproduce the symptoms you describe in Ventura or Monterey. I also don't understand why Stocks and News would show up in Recent Items unless you opened them.