The Substrate of Mystery: Mycelial Networks, Mutualism, and Symbiosis – A Conversation with Merlin Sheldrake

Fungi are veteran survivors of ecological disruption, and they demonstrate a radically different approach to crisis and decision-making than we do. While we tend to work with binaries and control when navigating uncertainty, mycelium works from a place of relationality. In this conversation, acclaimed mycologist and author Merlin Sheldrake explores what we can learn from mycelial networks about building flexible ecological, social, or structural systems that are rooted in mutuality and exchange. Tracing the ways we can embrace a mycelial way of thinking, he invites us to dwell within the “substrate of mystery” embodied by fungi: a liminal space where new ways of being can emerge. Read the transcript. Photo by Tomas Munita. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Substrate of Mystery: Mycelial Networks, Mutualism, and Symbiosis – A Conversation with Merlin Sheldrake is an episode from Emergence Magazine Podcast by Emergence Magazine.

This episode is 46:38 long.

This episode was published on Dec 2, 2025.

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