Ep. 68 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot vs. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)

Send us Fan MailA woman’s cells reshape modern medicine, and her name almost disappears. I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and watched the 2017 adaptation starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne, and the contrast raises an uncomfortable question: how do you title something after Henrietta Lacks while giving viewers so little of Henrietta?I talk through what the book makes clear about HeLa cells, informed consent, and the massive ripple effects across research, vaccines, and biotech profits. Then I get honest about what didn’t land for me, including how the story can drift toward the author’s reporting journey and Deborah Lacks’ relationship with that journey, sometimes at the cost of Henrietta’s own presence. I also bring in reader reactions from friends who rated it everywhere from two to five stars, and I unpack why some people experience the book as important history while others read it as intrusive, biased, or ethically messy.From there, I zoom out to bioethics and medical racism: what it means to benefit from stolen tissue, why the Lacks family’s financial reality matters, and how these patterns echo older abuses that medicine still struggles to fully reckon with. I end with my ratings, my book vs. movie winner, and the big takeaway that won’t go away: medical progress is not the same thing as justice.Subscribe for more book-to-screen comparisons, share this episode with a friend who loves true stories, and leave a rating and review so more listeners can find the show.All episodes of the podcast can be found on our website: https://booksvsmovies.buzzsprout.com/shareConnect with me: Instagram | Threads | Bookshop | Goodreads | Blog