Are you talking about Lindera Benzoin (which has red berries) or Calycanthus floridus?

I believe it is a Calycanthus - it has the pods that look like okra in the summer.

From cuttings I would scrape the last inch or so of the stem a bit to expose more of the wood to rooting hormone. Dip the stem in hormone and put in a sterile mix (use a stick to make the hole and then tamp the mix around the stem once it is the hole).

I cover my stem cuttings with a plastic bag & rubber band and they are self watering. Recently I put several potted cuttings into a large rubbermaid type container and covered the whole thing with plastic sheeting and secured with bungee cords.

As for the pods, you can probably crack them open to get the seeds and winter sow them. If you are not sure it is Calycanthus, you might want to do a web search to confirm. We call Calycanthus floridus "sweet shrub" around here so as not to confuse it with Lindera benzoin. There are lots of other common names for it besides that.