Hello subscribers to The Pudding, as well as our special supporters on Patreon.

We’ve got 4 new stories coming at you:

• Kevin Bacon… Not just the voice of Balto

• Life after death… Oh brother, I hope not

• The best way to mow a lawn… with a good attitude :)

• The English words you need to know… “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”

What a time to be alive!

The real Kevin Bacon

It’s folk wisdom that Kevin Bacon is the center of of the movie universe. Like most folk wisdom (don’t swim after eating, you will swallow seven spiders in your sleep over the course of your life, she’s not going to email you, etc.) this is a LIE.

Big Kevin Bacon wants you to think that Kevin Bacon runs Hollywood. But our new analysis by contributor Owen Lacey reveals the truth. With a little help from his good friends, math and numbers, Owen reveals the real Kevin Bacon and predicts which actor will soon claim the mantle.

Click to find out…

If you like this story, you might enjoy more of our film analyses: film or digital, sci-fi worlds, gender tropes

Life after death

Do you think about death? Do you lie awake at night trying and failing to conceive of the cold, inert void that may await you? Is your name Natalie Portman? If you said yes to all of these questions, you and me have so much in common and we should probably talk over a glass of wine.

But first, you should check out Alvin’s plunge into the depths of the human psyche. Using a representative sample of survey data from nearly 130,000 people, Alvin explores our beliefs about what happens after death, showing the multitude of identities and experiences that inform our most sincere convictions.

Check it out…

If you like this story, you might enjoy more of our stories about the big questions: emotions, monkeys, love :)

Why some people mow a lawn better than others

[ring ring… ring ring] Hey! Is your lawnmower running? Well you better go push it in the most optimal path!

That’s my impression of Russell and the team at Citizen Codex. They collaborated on this story to investigate how people solve constrained problems, like how to mow lawn with ruthless efficiency.

As many of our loyal, super chill and down-to-earth readers informed us, our online, keyboard-driven simulation didn’t include retrieving the lawnmower from the shed and returning it upon finishing said lawn mowing. We are listening and learning, and we are committed to fixing our mistakes. No one takes this omission lightly, and we appreciate you holding us accountable. In the future, we shall together mow the fields of Valhalla.

Read the essay…

If you liked this article, check out some of our math experiments: onions, birthdays, wine

The essential words of English

I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention, but the world has changed over the past 70 years. If you don’t believe me, I hope you’re hungry for some humble pie: in this story, contributor Jasmine Nackash compared the essential vocabulary list for English learners first created in 1953 with the most recent update in 2023, showing how our evolving world is reflected in the language we use to describe it.

According to the General Service list, words like “weave” are no longer necessary, while words like “climate,” as in “Natalie Portman and I both care deeply about the climate,” have now made the cut.

Read the essay to learn more…

If you liked this article, check out our other essays about words: crossword, hip-hop, slang

Quick asides

Due to an influx of pitches and being tired, we have paused pitch submissions for the remainder of 2026.

Want to hire our team to create data-driven, visual stories? Visit our sister studio, Polygraph.

#stuff-we-love at The Pudding

Here are some special links shared on our Friends of The Pudding Slack (get access via Patreon)!

• In Defense of The Detour, The New York Times

• All The Percent, Picard Looking

• The Cortado Census, Domestic Data Streamers

• Every dog in NYC, Firat Ciftci

Thanks for reading!
Kevin & The Pudding team