We’re all human, but who has the right to make mistakes in today’s society?

That’s a question at the heart of Members Only, the debut novel from author Sameer Pandya. In it, the life of main character, Raj Bhatt, falls apart after he makes a racist remark to an African-American couple at a posh tennis club.

In this Nerdette Book Club author interview, host Greta Johnsen talks with Pandya about the weaponization of the term “cancel culture,” why a tennis club serves as the setting for a story about Indian-American identity and who gets to recover from their mistakes.

Listen to this spoiler-free conversation with Pandya and then join us later this month for the Nerdette Book Club’s panel discussion on Members Only.