Inventory

This episode examines the barracoons and other holding facilities where captives awaited transport across the Atlantic. It details the systematic assessment, categorization, and commodification of enslaved people through European traders’ documentation practices.

The episode draws on historical accounts like Alexander Falconbridge’s testimony to reveal the clinical brutality of the sorting process, while exploring how the financial infrastructure developed for the slave trade (ledgers, insurance policies, and banking systems) would shape modern commerce.

The episode also draws parallels between gold mining and human extraction, and contrasts European and African concepts of time.