Our 9 Favorite Feature Stories This Week: The Ebola Wars, Poor Teeth, And The Search For Bianca Lozano
This week for BuzzFeed News, David Peisner tells the heartbreaking story of a mother's 19-year struggle to recover her kidnapped daughter. Read that and these other great stories from BuzzFeed and around the net.
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1. The 19-Year Search For Bianca Lozano And The Nightmare Of Child Abduction Cases — BuzzFeed News
As if losing a child to kidnapping wasn’t horrifying enough, ineffective law enforcement agencies and predatory private investigators only add to the confusion and pain. Deana Hebert’s long, maddening search for her daughter — and the ex-husband who took her — may be the rule, not the exception. Read it at BuzzFeed News.
2. Inside the Ebola Wars — New Yorker
A stunningly informative report by Richard Preston about the scientists who are racing to quell the Ebola epidemic. "By now, the warriors against Ebola understand that they face a long struggle against a formidable enemy. Many of their weapons will fail, but some will begin to work." Read it at the New Yorker.
3. By Noon They'd Both Be in Heaven — New York
Hanna Rosin brings the devastating and twisted story of a mother who attempted to kill her violent autistic teenager. "It is socially acceptable for parents to complain about, feel oppressed by, and even resent their children. But a parent who presents herself as a genuine victim of her own child is approaching a taboo." Read it at New York.
4. What Kind Of Creep Sells A Celebrity’s Naked Photos On The Internet? — BuzzFeed News
Charlie Warzel's on- and offline search for the prime suspect in last month’s celebrity nude photo hacking scandal. "Far from the film stereotypes, the individuals behind most 'hacks' aren’t technically skilled cyberpunk programmers — they are confidence men and creeps." Read it at BuzzFeed News.
5. Nicki Minaj: Cheeky Genius — GQ
Taffy Brodesser-Akner profiles the artist as she releases her third album: "She no longer feels as if she needs to hide behind outrageousness. This next chapter is about success." Read it at GQ.
6. Inside Hollywood’s Shocking Blackface Problem — BuzzFeed News
A civil rights fight that was thought to have been eradicated years ago is nevertheless taking place in the entertainment industry. Kelley L. Carter asks: why is Hollywood still “painting down” stuntpeople? Read it at BuzzFeed News.
7. The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed — Wired
Adrian Chen reports from Manila: "As social media connects more people more intimately than ever before, companies have been confronted with the Grandma Problem: Now that grandparents routinely use services like Facebook to connect with their kids and grandkids, they are potentially exposed to the Internet’s panoply of jerks, racists, creeps, criminals, and bullies." Read it at Wired.
8. Poor Teeth — Aeon
A powerful essay by Sarah Smarsh: "But it wasn’t sugar, heaps of which are sucked down daily by the middle and upper classes, that guided his and my grandma’s dental fates. And it wasn’t meth. It was lack of insurance, lack of knowledge, lack of good nutrition – poverties into which much of the country was born." Read it at Aeon.
9. A Place to Root — Oxford American
A beautifully observed essay by Holly Haworth about an eccentric named Carol Judy who lives and digs roots in the Tennessee coal country. "She says that central Appalachia has suffered 'erosion — the slow leakage of its people,' and wants to find ways for people to reinhabit the mountains. Root digging is one of them." Read it at Oxford American.