Head over to SoundCloud, and you’ll find 10 audio files that span three centuries. It’s a fairly random collection, we’ll admit. But two recordings from the 19th century immediately stand out.

Back in 1948, Britain was making another difficult transition, moving from the trauma of World War II to the chill of the Cold War. Hoping to give radio listeners some clarity on contemporary affairs, the BBC began airing an annual series of lectures — the Reith Lectures — that featured leading thinkers of the day.

A few days ago, we asked you to send us your favorite non-fiction titles. We’ll be posting your many excellent suggestions soon, and, in the meantime, we thought we should offer something in return — more specifically, yet another list of excellent non-fiction compiled by someone other than ourselves.

You want to know why Rupert Murdoch runs the world and you don’t? Here’s a hint: In 1990, Spy Magazine (now archived at Google Books) sent Murdoch and a slew of other wealthy celebrities checks for $1.11 as a prank. Murdoch cashed his right away — because even when he was just a lowly billionaire, the guy understood money.

Morgan Spurlock’s newest documentary, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, exposes the myriad ways in which popular media is almost wholly sponsored, leased, bought and branded by powerful corporations.

Malte Spitz, a member of the Green Party in Germany, sued Deutsche Telekom and forced the company to hand over six months of recorded cell phone data. The results were fairly eye opening.
During a five month period, DT tracked Spitz’s location and phone usage 35,000 times. If that sounds like a lot, you’re right.

Mad Men brings us back to a bygone era, the early 60s, when alcohol flowed freely throughout the working day. (Watch this montage to get up to speed.) An act of historical revisionism, many might think. But, apparently not so. According to a piece in The New York Times, the show basically gets it right.

Now making its way around the internets, a little semi-vintage clip of Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric, then hosts of The Today Show, trying to sort out the new, new thing called “The Internet.

Since 1995, Ira Glass has hosted and produced This American Life (iTunes - Feed - Web Site), the award-winning radio show that presents masterfully-crafted stories to almost 2 million listeners each week. What’s the secret sauce that goes into making a great story, particularly one primed for radio or TV? Glass spells it out in four parts.

There’s nothing new about it. Major periods of technological change have always engendered dislocation and debate. Some resist the changes wrought by new technology, and others embrace them.