Nutmeg. A forgotten spice at the back of the cupboard… or the hidden key to how our world really works?

In this episode, we follow the spice routes not just across oceans, but deep into the human psyche. From ancient trade networks and espionage to modern wars, global trauma, and the fragile mechanics of empathy, nutmeg becomes a lens through which everything sharpens into focus.

As MDMA re-emerges as a tool for healing the mind, we ask unsettling questions:
What links a fragrant seed, empathy, and the cycles of violence we keep repeating?
Is trade the antidote to war—or its quiet architect?
And what happens when confidence, self-worth, and compassion disappear from the exchange?

Through Trad’s riddles, lost histories, Portuguese conquests, Sumerian proverbs, and a journey that threatens to unravel the storyteller himself, Trauma and Trade reveals an uncomfortable truth: follow the trade routes, and you follow the trauma.

This isn’t just the story of nutmeg.
It’s the story of us—and why we keep returning to the same crossroads.

-Adams Smiths 1776 ’s An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.rrojasdatabank.info/Wealth-Nations.pdf

— Evidence of ancient spice presence (cloves) outside Southeast Asia as early as ~1700 BCE (Terqa archaeological finds) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terqa

— Archaeological spice trade insights across Asia and the Near East (PMC) — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361603/

— Overview of spice trade networks linking Asia, Arabia, and Europe (Britannica) — https://www.britannica.com/topic/spice-trade

— Arab maritime spice routes pre-European voyages — https://samplecontents.library.ph/wikipedia/wp/s/Spice_trade.htm

— Early Portuguese sea route to India (Vasco da Gama) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_discovery_of_the_sea_route_to_India

— Portuguese contact with the Spice Islands (Moluccas) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_expedition_to_the_Moluccas

— Malacca Sultanate pre-Portuguese spice hub — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca_Sultanate

Stay Tuned...this podcast covers seasons following Trade and empathy, Ecstasy and empathy, the empathy evolution of man and much, much more...it's going to be a wild ride. What's more, start with these links above and see where they take you!

Disclaimer
This podcast explores history, chemistry, cultural belief, and speculation.
It does not provide medical advice or advocate drug use.
Nutmeg contains the compound myristicin, which is not MDMA.
Historical medicinal claims reflect beliefs of their time, not modern science.
Some ideas presented are interpretive and are examined critically throughout the series.