One thing I sorta miss about Jay Leno on the Tonight show was his "Jaywalking" segments. where he would interview people on the street about various topics related to the news. It often included geography, history....sometimes science. It never took too long to get a series of examples of jaw-dropping ignorance. (they never included the ones who knew stuff)

Then, now & then they would bring 3-4 of the worst onto the show for a dumb-off. (I'm sure people were aware they were being held up for ridicule, but fame and the chance to be dumb on network TV was irresistible)

What it told me was that basic education was sadly neglected in many places, and that pop culture has captured WAY too much attention.