On Radcliffe Day 2025, we honored Jodie Foster in recognition of her barrier-breaking six-decade career in front of and behind the camera. In this episode, the newly minted Radcliffe Medalist chats with the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.—a friend and former mentor—and gets deep about her beginnings, her life path, motherhood, and how she’s grown.

Released on June 26, 2025.

Episode Transcript

Guests

Jodie Foster is an actor and filmmaker. In her six-decade career, she has won Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award alongside a Cecil B. DeMille Award and an Honorary Palme d’Or.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. An award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, cultural critic, and institution builder, Gates has published numerous books and produced and hosted documentary films.

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Credits

Ivelisse Estrada is your cohost and the editorial manager at HRI, where she edits Radcliffe Magazine.

Kevin Grady is the multimedia producer at HRI.

Alan Catello Grazioso is the executive producer of BornCurious and the senior multimedia manager at HRI.

Heather Min is your cohost and the senior manager of digital strategy at HRI.

Anna Soong is the production assistant at HRI.

Special thanks to Productions, Inc. for production support and Cabin 3 Media for their invaluable contributions to the editing of this podcast episode.