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The Mothership podcast: On Hollywood and whitewashing

Brett Molina
USA TODAY

The debate over Hollywood and "whitewashing" in movies and TV continues.

Scarlett Johansson plays The Major in Ghost in the Shell from Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures in theaters March 31, 2017.

The controversy was thrust into the spotlight with the release of Netflix series Iron Fist, and next week's debut of the movie Ghost in the Shell, a live-action remake of the Japanese manga starring Scarlett Johansson.

What is whitewashing, and what can Hollywood do to prevent it from happening? On this week's episode of The Mothership, USA TODAY's geek culture podcast, we are joined by The Nerds of Color founder and editor Keith Chow, who helps break down the issues with whitewashing in TV and film.

In our Nerd Alert segment, round 3 of #MarchBadness is upon us! Voldemort or Sauron? Joker or Magneto? We're one step closer to the Final Four of our villains bracket. Don't forget to vote!

Have thoughts about the podcast or disagree with us? Reach out to us on Twitter at @klawls, @brettmolina23 or @briantruitt. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe to and review The Mothership on iTunes here. Your ratings, reviews and feedback help keep us on the air.

The Mothership is USA TODAY's podcast that covers all things nerdy in pop culture. Hosted by tech reporter Brett Molina, film critic Brian Truitt and entertainment writer Kelly Lawler, each week our roundtable of experts dissects the latest in geek culture, from superhero movies to sci-fi TV shows to the latest and greatest video games. We're saving the world from bad comic-book adaptations every Friday on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher.

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