Mr. Witt is author of “The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America.” As democracy in the United States spirals into a widening gyre of distrust, demagogy and ...

The number of talented and perceptive people found on the internet is staggering. Take the sprawling ‘What Is This Thing?’ online community, for example. It is filled to the brim with experts and ...

That visibility is also a risk. Smith is putting herself in front of unscreened audiences, where heckling, hostile questions, and awkward moments happen at every event. A few exchanges have gone ...