And now, for something (almost) completely frivolous. I have compiled below a list of famous atheists and skeptics sorted by how easily they may be connected to Kevin Bacon on film. Left off of this list are atheists who are well-known to us primarily from the entertainment industry (e.g. Julia Sweeney) since they have something of an unfair advantage with respect to this particular metric.
James Randi’s Bacon number is 2
James Randi and Alice Cooper appeared in An Honest Liar.
Alice Cooper and Kevin Bacon appeared in Skum rocks!.
Carl Sagan’s Bacon number is 2
Carl Sagan and John Lithgow appeared in Johnny Carson: King of Late Night.
John Lithgow and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Penn Jillette’s Bacon number is 2
Penn Jillette and Tom Hanks appeared in Toy Story.
Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon appeared in Apollo 13.
PZ Myers’s Bacon number is 2
PZ Myers and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Michael Shermer’s Bacon number is 2
Michael Shermer and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Christopher Hitchens’s Bacon number is 2
Christopher Hitchens and Sean Penn appeared in Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune.
Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon appeared in Mystic River.
Richard Dawkins’s Bacon number is 2
Richard Dawkins and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Daniel Dennett’s Bacon number is 2
Daniel Dennett and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Ayn Rand’s Bacon number is 2
Ayn Rand and Phil Donahue appeared in Ayn Rand: In Her Own Words.
Phil Donahue and Kevin Bacon appeared in Skum rocks!.
Peter Atkins’s Bacon number is 2
Peter Atkins and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Robert M. Price’s Bacon number is 2
Robert M. Price and John Carpenter appeared in Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown.
John Carpenter and Kevin Bacon appeared in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film.
Will Provine’s Bacon number is 2
Will Provine and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Greg Graffin’s Bacon number is 3
Greg Graffin and Tim McIlrath appeared in Live at the Palladium.
Tim McIlrath and Emile Hirsch appeared in Lords of Dogtown.
Emile Hirsch and Kevin Bacon appeared in The Air I Breathe.
Douglas Adams’s Bacon number is 3
Douglas Adams and Steve Jobs appeared in Triumph of the Nerds.
Steve Jobs and Tom Hanks appeared in The Pixar Story.
Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon appeared in Apollo 13.
Peter Singer’s Bacon number is 3
Peter Singer and Gerard Butler appeared in Shadow Company.
Gerard Butler and Michael Fassbender appeared in 300.
Michael Fassbender and Kevin Bacon appeared in X-Men: First Class.
Amanda Marcotte’s Bacon number is 3
Amanda Marcotte and Tayler Rae Roney appeared in Daddy I Do.
Tayler Rae Roney and Damen Fletcher appeared in Keys.
Damen Fletcher and Kevin Bacon appeared in Telling Lies in America.
Steven Weinberg’s Bacon number is 3
Steven Weinberg and Turk Pipkin appeared in Nobelity.
Turk Pipkin and Christopher Guest appeared in Waiting for Guffman.
Christopher Guest and Kevin Bacon appeared in A Few Good Men.
Sam Harris’s Bacon number is 3
Sam Harris and Woody Allen appeared in The Unbelievers.
Woody Allen and Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in The Sunshine Boys.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Lawrence M. Krauss’s Bacon number is 3
Lawrence M. Krauss and Woody Allen appeared in The Unbelievers.
Woody Allen and Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in The Sunshine Boys.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Steven Pinker’s Bacon number is 3
Steven Pinker and Nicholas Woodeson appeared in The Lottery Of Birth.
Nicholas Woodeson and Teresa Mahoney appeared in Hysteria.
Teresa Mahoney and Kevin Bacon appeared in X-Men: First Class.
Ray Kurzweil’s Bacon number is 3
Ray Kurzweil and William Shatner appeared in Transcendent Man.
William Shatner and Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in Escape from Planet Earth.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Richard Carrier’s Bacon number is 3
Richard Carrier and Richard Dawkins appeared in The God Who Wasn’t There.
Richard Dawkins and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Stephen Hawking’s Bacon number is 3
Stephen Hawking and Arthur C. Clarke appeared in God, the Universe and Everything Else.
Arthur C. Clarke and John Lithgow appeared in 2010.
John Lithgow and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Bertrand Russell’s Bacon number is 3
Bertrand Russell and Naseeruddin Shah appeared in Aman.
Naseeruddin Shah and Jason Flemyng appeared in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Jason Flemyng and Kevin Bacon appeared in X-Men: First Class.
Caleb Lack’s Bacon number is 3
Caleb Lack and Michael Shermer appeared in Reasons to Believe.
Michael Shermer and Ben Stein appeared in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
Ben Stein and Kevin Bacon appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Bacon number is 3
Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Woody Allen appeared in The Unbelievers.
Woody Allen and Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in The Sunshine Boys.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Ian McEwan’s Bacon number is 3
Ian McEwan and Woody Allen appeared in The Unbelievers.
Woody Allen and Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in The Sunshine Boys.
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Robert Wright’s Bacon number is 3
Robert Wright and Jane Goodall appeared in Surviving Progress.
Jane Goodall and Alfre Woodard appeared in The Hadza: The Last Of The First.
Alfre Woodard and Kevin Bacon appeared in Beauty Shop.
A.C. Grayling’s Bacon number is 3
A.C. Grayling and Rocco Salata appeared in Article 12 – Waking Up in a Surveillance Society.
Rocco Salata and Aleksander Krupa appeared in Blue Streak.
Aleksander Krupa and Kevin Bacon appeared in X-Men: First Class.
E.O. Wilson’s Bacon number is 4
E.O. Wilson and Theo Colborn appeared in Behold the Earth.
Theo Colborn and Peter Coyote appeared in Bag It.
Peter Coyote and John Lithgow appeared in The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.
John Lithgow and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Philip Pullman’s Bacon number is 5
Philip Pullman and Nick Tucker appeared in The Secrets of the Golden Compass.
Nick Tucker and C. S. Lewis appeared in Chronicling Narnia.
C.S. Lewis and Debra Winger appeared in The Life and Faith of C.S. Lewis
Debra Winger and John Lithgow appeared in Terms of Endearment.
John Lithgow and Kevin Bacon appeared in Footloose.
Looks like we have to thank Ben Stein for a few of the lowest Bacon numbers, oddly enough. Didn’t see that one coming. Many thanks to Google for making this process so easy. If you have any names to add, do let me know in the comments.
