In recent years, fossil fuel extraction in the US has rapidly expanded, particularly from deep shale rock using two technologies in combination: high-pressure hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) and horizontal drilling. The application of these technologies has created a ‘shale boom’ in the US, generating economic growth and significantly changing the energy landscape through increases in domestic production and gas-fired electricity generation – outcomes the current UK government is seeking to recreate. Fracking is also increasingly contested, encountering opposition from groups concerned about its environmental and social impacts, and prompting public debates about its role in future energy systems. While survey studies have broadly gauged awareness and opinions in both countries, much less work has looked at the underlying dimensions of these perspectives, and at how social contexts influence emergent public views on recently developed extractive technologies. Addressing such gaps, this research is based on a series of structured deliberative workshops that provided a forum for in-depth public discussion of perceived social, environmental and economic issues related to fracking. It develops a comparative case analysis focused on the effects of fracking technologies on social values, relationships, livelihoods and practices in locations where deep shale fracking is in upstream development (California, and the UK). The initial research observations and reflections presented here focus on perceptions of fracking’s risks and benefits, their influence on notions of responsibility, and how they inform attitudes about potential energy futureri