I am beginning to think that maybe my mic was defective. I could not get to your forum link to work ( “not authorized to read this forum”). However, I did find this thread:https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/help-blue-yeti-high-pitch-noise/31979/1
There is no reason my mic should have different channels left/right. And I think the static is due to the mini usb into the mic itself or perhaps the cord, as I have tried the mic on different computers in different locations. I think I will try getting a new one from Amazon and perhaps reshooting. I am going to try using the powered usb hub suggested by joel96 in the thread linked and maybe a double shielded cable.
Could you please confirm that the setup I was using seems right and that I wasn’t doing anything strange? Thanks so much for your help!