In October two studies came out showing that "drug-eluting" heart stents were more likely to cause blood clots. Reporter Lorna Benson wanted to investigate more deeply before the FDA launched its review.

Benson talked to medical experts, but she also wanted to know how patients with drug-eluting stents felt about their treatment after the studies. She also wondered whether they and others were given other treatment options at the time that they chose a drug-eluting stent.

We reached out to our Public Insight Network and heard back from five people who had received drug-eluting stents. Lorna talked with several of them to inform her coverage. She weaved one patient's experience into her story along with others in the medical community to explore their concerns about drug-coated stents.

Read and listen to FDA launches look into safety of drug-coated stents

When the state reported that the number of schools failing to meet federal student performance goals doubled over the last year, we wanted to find out what these numbers really meant.

We turned to education experts in our Public Insight Network--teachers, parents, students and administrators--to help us analyze the results of the MCA-II test. We wanted to know why they thought so few schools were meeting the federal definition of "Adequate Yearly Progress," and what they made of the new test.

We received a flood of responses that highlighted the many issues around testing and student performance, including special education, the achievement gap, charter schools and the vagaries of standardized testing.

These responses proved invaluable for reporter Laura McCallum as she prepared her reports on the test scores. One of our respondents, teacher Lonni Skrentner, invited Laura into her classroom to share how teachers felt about the results.

Read and listen to In wake of weak math scores, education officials want to make math exciting.

Several people from the Public Insight Network helped business reporter Marty Moylan explore shoppers' willingness to buy furniture online.

Dan Olson weaved together the employment experiences of four sources from the Public Insight Network to explore the outlook for jobs in Minnesota.

When a source in the Public Insight Network found out that her friend's place of work would soon be closing due to federal budget cuts, she was shocked that she hadn't heard anything about this in the news.

She turned to MPR to share the news, and to find out why the media was ignoring cuts to AIDS Clinical Trials Units across the country. Public insight analysts spoke with employees of the University of Minnesota's ACTU and turned the story over to the producers with All Things Considered.

Greta Cunningham interviewed the University's ACTU's principal investigator Hank Balfour about the impending closure of the ACTU, and what it meant for those with HIV and AIDS.

Read and listen to University of Minnesota AIDS Clinical Trials Unit to close.

A source in the Public Insight Network suggested we tell the story of a man who was trying to wean his health club from fossil fuels.

The story of Paul Steinhauser, owner of White Bear Racquet and Swim, was fascinating: Like other conservationist businessmen (US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Virgin founder Richard Branson), Steinhauser understood that being green doesn't mean losing money. In fact, by switching over to solar and geothermal energy, Steinhauser has saved $100,000 and counting.

MPR reporter Annie Baxter talked to Steinhauser about his decision to go green.

Read and listen to Suburban health club wants you fit and green.

Last spring, we held an insight session in Virginia, MN to talk about the important issues on the Iron Range. The discussion at this insight session helped shape reporter Bob Kelleher's stories for the "Growing Pains on the Iron Range" series.

The idea for this story came from a Public Insight Network source who shared a story about increased development on Big Stone Lake in Ortonville

In the Loop is a monthly show that is not only taped in front of a live audience but its content is also informed by a "community of collaborators." Each show tackles a different theme pulled from the headlines, culture, or everyday life. In the Loop explores the topic through interviews, produced stories, music, satire-whatever works. Many sources from the Public Insight Network have helped with various aspects of In the Loop.

For a recent show, "Diplomacy Begins at Home," In the Loop producers wanted to find out about how diplomacy affects people's lives on a personal level. Some of the most interesting stories that emerged from the Public Insight Network were those about people deciding to give up on diplomacy.

In the Loop's Sanden Totten spoke to three of these respondents about what happened when they ditched diplomacy.

Read and listen to Ditching Diplomacy.

Election seasons have no shortage of pundits dissecting and discussing ad nauseum their perceptions' of voter attitudes. Nikki Tundel, however, wasn't interested in the pundits' take on why voters were voting for certain candidates. She wanted to go to the source-the voters-to discuss the issues that were influencing their decision.

Several folks from the Public Insight Network helped Nikki find out who people were voting for and why. We heard from a large number of people with a wide range of political backgrounds and motivations for voting. The voters clearly wanted a chance to have their voices heard during a crowded election season.

Nikki, with the help of three other MPR News staff members, spoke with 12 voters about their choices.

Read and listen to The voters speak.A

Public Insight Network source John Doan talks about his childhood and Vietnam, and urges his fellow voters to go to the polls on election day

We heard from many Northwest Airlines employees in the Public Insight Network about the ongoing strike. Reporter Annie Baxter featured one striking mechanic in this story.

In December (on the heels of a passionate outpouring response to a public insight query on statewide testing) we knew that education was an issue that people wanted to talk about. We organized a small "insight session" of several Public Insight Network sources and others with first-hand experience to talk about how education is covered in media and which stories we're missing.

MPR education reporters Laura McCallum and Art Hughes attended the insight session and left with new ways to approach their coverage and many story ideas. One such idea came from Tracy Batsell who also attended the meeting. Tired of hearing only negative stories, she wanted to hear some stories about the good things that students were doing in North Minneapolis.

It turned out that Tracy's own story fit the description perfectly. With little outside help, she runs an initiative that helps student athletes in North Minneapolis use their athletic skill to help them get into college. Art Hughes talked with Tracy and her students about the change that she is making in their lives.

Read and listen to North Minneapolis mentor is a "mother on a mission."

So much of today's political coverage seems to be all about the polar opposites: left and right, red and blue, liberal and conservative. We wanted instead to find those voices that were truly in the middle.

We started by reaching out to organizations and others around the state to learn about the issues that were important to people across the political spectrum. From the many responses we received, public insight analysts identified a group of centrists and swing voters.

In the months preceding the election, we corresponded with swing voters and gave some of them the chance to share their thoughts throughout the election season via a blog called "A View From the Fence."

Read View from the Fence.

Sources from the Public Insight Network who lack health insurance shared stories of their lives without health coverage

Local historian and Public Insight Network source Jim Farrell shared his insight into Southdale's transformation over the last 50 years

We first met Jerry Hasnedl at an MPR insight session in Thief River Falls in June. We heard about his experiences farming grains, soybeans, sunflowers, canola and alfalfa and his experiences with co-ops.

When Morning Edition wanted to understand the impact of rising gas prices, we knew Hasnedl would be the perfect guy to talk to...

He spoke with Cathy Wurzer about the effect rising gas prices are having on farmers.

Read and listen to High fuel costs affect some more than others.

Doug Tiffany became part of our network in order to share his expertise as a research fellow in agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota.

His expertise soon came in handy. Tiffany was a valuable source for a piece that MPR reporter Mark Steil put together about the future of ethanol for our "New Energy from Old Sources" series. Tiffany helped Steil explore the potential for growth in the ethanol industry and other energy sources that could provide competition for ethanol.

Read and listen to Ethanol makers search for cheaper raw materials.

We found clergy in the Public Insight Network to discuss their holiday sermons with Cathy Wurzer.

Public Insight Network source and Transit for Livable Communities Executive Director Lea Schuster spoke with Dan Olson about her hopes for how the Transportation amendment will affect transit.