At Backchannel we cover the future. Through relentless reporting and deep analysis, we zero in on the most revealing stories in tech: no fluff. In 2017, we’re examining the world through a series of themed weeks. Right now, we’re looking for stories dedicated to outsiders.

Specifically, we want to take a closer look at the people who aren’t included in the conversation when we talk about technology. We want to raise the question: As technologists create the future — who gets left out?

We’re interested in pieces about product design — horror stories of companies that fail to build products for diverse communities; optimistic stories of how they figured it out. We want to learn about digital communities that thrive, specifically, because they’re built by or for outsiders. We want surprising, personality-driven tales about companies, founders, and innovators who don’t live in Silicon Valley or New York.

And, of course we always love a good story.

We welcome investigative pieces, narrative profiles, and personal essays. At Backchannel we only publish one meaty piece of writing per day — no hot takes — so our standards are high, and our stories usually require original reporting.

A few of the stories we’ve loved publishing along this theme:

This piece, on the Indiana Jones of market research learning how Saudi women use their phoness.

This story, about a last ditch effort to save a dried up coal mining town by teaching former miners to code.

This poignant essay, about how technology dried up the writer’s attention — and his struggle to wrangle it back.

This profile, of a 33-year-old woman who didn’t trust the code running in her pacemaker, so she hacked it herself.

All pitches are due by Feb. 17. Send your story ideas to alexis_sobelfitts@backchannel.com