This week we are wrapping up the Henrietta Lacks Story! We will talk about the increased attention on the Lacks family including a BBC Documentary team, A con artist who called himself Doctor Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield, and Rebecca Skloot, the author of our source material.

We will actually get into the trail of breadcrumbs that Skloot used to meet Deborah Lacks for the first time and then talk about there relationship as they uncover more and more about Henrietta's life together over a nearly 10 year long process to write "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

Scientists also discover what actually caused Henriettas Cancer in the first place and use that information to help create a HPV Vaccine. We talk about the attempt to create a Henrietta lacks Museum in Turner Station.

Then we finish by discussing a movie based on the book, a new law recognizing Henrietta passed through congress, and an ongoing group of unjust enrichment lawsuits against some major biomedical companies who profited off of the manufacture of Hela cells over the years.

This was a crazy story and we hope you enjoyed it!

Sources:

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot (2010)

“Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Cancer Research Act” by American Cancer Society Cancer action network(2014)

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks-IMDB page” Directed by George C. Wolfe (2017)

“What does the historic settlement won by Henrietta Lacks's family mean for others” by Meredith Wadman (2023)

“Novartis Settles with Henrietta Lacks' Estate over use of her cancercells to advance medicine” by Brian Witte Associated Press (2026)

“Henrietta Lacks: Family of woman whos cells were 'stolen' settles second lawsuit” by Max Matza (2026)

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!