Listen through this Cloudcast Playlist, covering some of the pertinent events that occurred around the world during 2011.

Tha Arab Spring

New Yorker Political Scene: Libya and the Arab Spring, with Jon Lee Anderson and Ryan Lizza
“Jon Lee Anderson and Ryan Lizza on the war in Libya and the Arab Spring.”

Libyan Revolution

The Independent: The Johann Hari podcast: Episode 10 – You are not being told the truth about Libya
“In his latest podcast, the Independent’s award-winning columnist Johann Hari argues we aren’t being told the truth about the war in Libya – and tries to uncover the real story.”

Japan’s Triple Disaster

Gilles Peterson Worldwide: Gilles’ ‘Ganbare Nippon’ Mix
“The Japanese people have always shown me love and affection – they are the most passionate music fans and if they like what you do – they let you know! We all need that in life. Japan is a positive nation and as such I am sure it will eventually recover from it’s current trauma. I hope you enjoy this mix that I recorded today featuring some Japanese tunes that have touched me over the years.”

Guardian Focus podcast: The nuclear debate after Fukushima and Chernobyl
“George Monbiot, Helen Caldicott and Laurence Williams join host James Randerson to debate the future of the UK’s nuclear programme following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.”

Osama bin Laden Killed

Business Week: Why Osama Bin Laden Lost
“Osama bin Laden had lost relevance long before the raid in Abbottabad. Why?”

London Riots

Electronic Dimensions: the effect of London riots on independent labels
“In August 2011 violence broke out across London in some of the most heated riots we have seen in the UK for many years. Amongst the chaos, a Sony warehouse full of stock from independent record labels, to be distributed by PIAS, was burnt to the ground, threatening the livelihoods of many artists from the music scene. In today’s Electronic Dimensions, Naomi Mihara gets political trying to understand the causes and consequences of these riots.”

End of the U.S. Space Shuttle Program

How Stuff Works Tech: TechStuff Tours the Space Shuttle
“Inspired by some listener mail, Jonathan and Chris decide to take a closer look at the history — and future — of space shuttles. Tune in to learn more about the future of space exploration.”

Occupy Movement

The Guardian Business Podcast: Occupy London Stock Exchange
“Danny Dorling discusses his new book Fair Play and how its arguments can inspire those who are protesting against wealth inequality in London’s financial district.”

Business Week: Occupy Wall Street
“Who’s behind the mask: the anti-leader of OWS.”

Death of Steve Jobs

Harvard Business: Steve Jobs The Perfect CEO

XNet: Steve Jobs Tribute – One More Thing
“As a tribute to Steve Jobs I created this collage of music featured in Apple commercials mixed with famous statements from his keynotes. Rest In Peace.”

If you’ve come across any other interesting Cloudcasts covering similar world events last year, share them with us in the comments below.

Voting for the best of 2011 on Mixcloud is now open and closes December 31st at midnight.

To vote for your favorite Cloudcasts, Cloudcasters, Groups or Playlists of this year you need only to share these pages via the Facebook Share buttons on each page. Just like the one illustrated below:

If your looking for who to vote for, why not take a quick look back through the 2010 and 2009 winners in the Best of Mixcloud here.

Here are the best Cloudcasts from 2009 and 2010 respectively:

Cloudcasters – remember to encourage your listeners, fans and followers to vote for you by dropping this badge on your website, blog or Facebook page with along with a link back to your Cloudcasts or Profile page on Mixcloud.

Stay tuned for the results in the new year. Happy voting!

Celebration of Curation 2011 has sadly drawn to a close, but wipe away those crocodile tears and rejoice in the fact that Mixcloud has been very proud to present 54 brilliant Cloudcasts from some staggeringly impressive partners, all of which can now be found on the main campaign page. And there is still plenty of time to run through the office favourites from Week Two, which saw Celebrations of Radio Shows, Promoters, Festivals, Record Labels, and Thought. We know this is what you have been waiting for.

Monday saw Celebration of Curation’s spotlight on Radio Shows, and no day celebrating their brilliance could ever be complete without the inimitable Carl Cox and his ever-present Global radio show. His Celebration of Curation Cloudcast features highlights from the second party of the season at Space Ibiza, and is packed with live sets from Jon Rundell, the man himself, and Richie Hawtin. Lock in!

Celebration of Curation rolled into Tuesday with the spotlight on Promoters. The office stayed hunkered down in Ibiza for the day with We Love‘s feature Cloudcast pounding through the speakers: ‘We Love Vitalik‘, mixed by Jozif and Ryan O’Gorman. Tidy!

Wednesday was one of our favourite days in the entire campaign — a celebration of something that Mixcloud staff hold very close to their hearts… Festivals! Though we worked with some incredible partners that day (and honourable mentions must go to Gottwood Festival and New York’s Electric Zoo Festival) the office vote narrowly went to the daddy of the music-tech circuit, SXSW, and this beautiful electronic mix.

On Thursday we celebrated one of the most important layers in musical curation: Record Labels. We were very excited to work with Gilles Peterson‘s label — home to Mercury Music Nominee, Ghostpoet — Brownswood Recordings. Do be sure to check out their stellar mix, featuring choice cuts from the Brownswood discography; selected and mixed by Alex Patchwork.

The final day of Celebration of Curation 2011 saw a focus on a side of Mixcloud that we’re really proud of — Thought. Friday featuring brilliant talk-content from the London School of Economics, the RSA, Wired UK, and the beautiful Caught by the River, but this lecture for the Institute of Art and Ideas, exploring the philosophy of cut-and-paste sound sampling, stood out.

That’s all for this year’s Celebration of Curation, then. We hope you enjoyed listening as much as we enjoyed putting the campaign together. Stay locked in to the profile pages of this year’s partners, as we happen to know that there are a few tasty bits and pieces on the horizon…