The smartest person "in the room" can be challenged by doing a little research and providing a bibliography identifying sources. When it comes to information the gap between the have's and the have not's is much smaller and personal memory does not matter as much. Some sites are devoted to fact-checking.

TV changed Political Talk in the 60's. We could see what was going on in the country and in the world at the dinner table.

Now when we see watch something on TV we can look for additional footage online. Checking that it has been presented is in the correct context and without too much bias.