Knowledge-Thirsty Americans Search for Kardashian, Beyoncé

Once upon a time, the tools of learning were confined to church elders or the highest ranks of academia.

Search engines, though, have made most of human learning just a click away.

The American public again proved eager this year to broaden their subject-matter expertise. While many topics were of interest, one was disproportionately represented: Celebrity gossip. The top query this year, according to Bing, was Kim Kardashian West, who surpassed last year’s most searched person, which was Beyoncé.

The other most-searched for people reads like a who’s who of world leaders: Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber.

In a blow almost as crushing as the mid-term elections, Barack Obama failed to make the list this year, after finishing at No. 10 last year.

Obama was, however, still the most searched-for politician, followed by the woman who wants his job, Hillary Clinton. Also popular was Republican governor Chris Christie, who also wouldn’t mind having Obama’s job.

Others in the top 10 pols include outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, Tea Partier Michele Bachmann and Texas’ governor Rick Perry. Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid also made the top 10, along with Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

When it comes to what really matters — sports — the list was topped by basketball players LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Lamar Odom. Race car driver Danica Patrick was the fourth-most-searched-for athlete, followed by football quarterbacks Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Colin Kaepernick. Tennis player Serena Williams, recently retired Yankees star Derek Jeter and Patriots QB Tom Brady also made the list.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via