Cloud properties retrieved from the MODIS instrument on the Terra and Aqua satellites are an invaluable dataset for examining a variety of cloud effects on the Earth's radiation budget. My talk will focus on liquid cloud interactions with solar radiation and will describe how MODIS gridded cloud data can be paired with a broadband radiative transfer algorithm to study two radiative quantities of great significance for assessing cloud realism in Global Climate Model simulations. The first quantity is the albedo bias arising from neglecting horizontal variability in cloud optical thickness and droplet size, and the second is cloud susceptibility which is a measure of potential radiative perturbations in polluted clouds due to the so-called "indirect aerosol effect". I will show global estimates of these quantities for select months, explain their sensitivities to various factors, and discuss their climatic importance in the broader context of cloud and climate forcing.