The Deep Read – Merlin Sheldrake in Conversation with Ben Breen
On May 31st, 2026, The Humanities Institute produced its seventh annual Deep Read program. The 2026 Deep Read culminated in a public discussion of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make our Worlds Change our Minds, and Shape our Futures, with author and mycologist Merlin Sheldrake in conversation with Associate Professor of History, Ben Breen, at the Quarry Amphitheater.
A New York Times bestseller, Entangled Life reveals the foundational and nourishing role of fungal webs in our world, both in the past and today. Together, we’ll explore the dependence of all life—human, plant, animal, and beyond—on fungal networks and how the resulting interconnections provoke us to reconsider our understanding of existence, identity, intelligence, and more.
Exploring Entangled Life
As we do every year, our program was grounded in deeply reading this year’s book with the help from scholars at UC Santa Cruz.
Our Deep Read Scholars
We enlisted a knowledgeable group of UC Santa Cruz professors who helped us read and analyze the book, understanding both its content and its contexts:
Benjamin Breen, Associate Professor of History
Hannah Cole, Assistant Professor of Literature
Gregory Gilbert, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies
Donna Haraway, Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies
Brenda Hillman, Filippi Professor Emerita of Poetry at Saint Mary’s College
Laura Martin, Deep Read Faculty Lead and Continuing Lecturer at Porter College
A. Laurie Palmer, Professor Emerita of Art
Jennifer Tseng, Associate Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
We read and explored Merlin Sheldrake’s book with the Deep Read community over 4 weeks, starting in early-May. Here’s what we did:
Email Explorations
We produced 4 weekly emails that reflected on a different aspect of the book, guided by this year’s Deep Read scholars.
- Week 1: A Fungal Awakening – Centering Fungi, Transforming Perspectives, Making Connections
- Week 2: Fungi as Riddles – On the Material and Symbolic Character of Truffles, Fungal Networks, and Lichen
- Week 3: Strange Analogies – Zombie Fungi and Magic Mushrooms, Mycorrhizal Fungi and Networks
- Week 4: On Fungi and Transformations – An Interview with Donna Haraway
Faculty Salon
On May 19, 2026, at 6pm, we held a salon-style event at the Hay Barn on campus where a group of Deep Read faculty—Professors Breen, Gilbert, and Haraway —gave brief presentations and discussed Entangled Life with moderator Laura Martin and the Deep Read community.
View photos of the event here:
The Literature and Poetics of Fungi Salon
On May 26, 2026, at 6pm, we held a salon at the Hay Barn focused on the literary and poetic influence of fungi and its relation to Entangled Life. The salon featured Professors Cole, Hillman, Palmer, and Tseng in conversation with moderator Laura Martin and the Deep Read community.
San Diego Alumni Salon
On May 6, 2026, at 6:30pm, we hosted a gathering for San Diego-area alumni who wanted to connect with each other and discuss Entangled Life. This in-person only event featured Irena Polić and UC Santa Cruz alum and mycologist, Christian Schwarz, in conversation with Laura Martin.
Community Conversations
There were online forums for each of the four weekly email explorations of the book where participants were able to ask questions, post comments, and engage with fellow Deep Readers. Each Deep Read event had a dedicated Q&A period during which people were able to pose questions, share ideas, and converse with the UC Santa Cruz faculty and other participants.
The Deep Read Class
In Spring Quarter 2026, Deep Read Faculty Lead and Program Manager, Laura Martin, taught a course at Porter College for UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students exploring Entangled Life and the role and influence of fungal webs in literature, philosophy, history, the arts, and beyond. Deep Read students were invited to a special author event during Sheldrake’s visit. Many insights from the class were shared with the broader Deep Read community throughout the program. The class was a discussion-based seminar that fulfilled the TA GE requirement, and it included interactive and experiential-learning opportunities outside of the classroom as well.
The Deep Read is an annual program of The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz. We invite curious minds to think deeply about books and the most pressing issues of our contemporary moment with the help from scholars at UC Santa Cruz.
The Deep Read Program is made possible through the generous support of the Helen and Will Webster Foundation.