The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Oct 20-26, 2014

The Ebola WarsBy Richard Preston, New YorkerHow genomics research can help contain the outbreak.

The Making of the World’s Scariest Terrorist BrandBy Marshall Sella, MatterISIS mixes new-media savvy with medieval savagery. It’s a diabolical marketing strategy that led us right back into war—and one that future terror groups will surely copycat. Or try to top.

The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook FeedBy Adrien Chen, WiredCompanies like Facebook and Twitter rely on an army of workers employed to soak up the worst of humanity in order to protect the rest of us. And there are legions of them—a vast, invisible pool of human labor.

When island nations drown, who owns their seas?By Latif Nasser, Boston GlobeAs climate change jeopardizes the huge ocean claims of tiny nations, experts propose some bold legal solutions.

Poor teethBy Sarah Smarsh, Aeon MagazineIf you have a mouthful of teeth shaped by a childhood in poverty, don’t go knocking on the door of American privilege.

William Gibson Writes the FutureBy Zach Baron, GQHe coined the term cyberspace before we even knew cyberspace existed. He imagined reality TV years before it was everywhere. He's made the leap from cult novelist to mega-selling oracle by writing intensely enjoyable techno-thrillers about viral-ad agencies and shadowy clothing designers and Cuban-Chinese data traffickers. And while William Gibson insists that he's the last guy to know what's coming next, predictions he made decades ago keep coming true. Which is a little alarming, actually. Because his new novel, The Peripheral, is his most dire yet.

For more great longreads, visit our friends at Longreads.com.