My friend Naomi Yalkowsky Foster, an amazing pre-school teacher to whom countless families owe so much, posted Preschool Teachers Should Earn Like They Matter on Facebook. The piece was written by Laura Bornfreund for The Atlantic on January 28. It’s the lead article this week for a reason. Read it!

Regular readers know MRW does not like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. At. All. No one should revel in the troubles of another, but this man is definitely not who we want to lead us. For some of the latest on his ethical challenges, here’s Trouble in Trenton by Alec McGillis for Slate on February 6.

Why Are So Many Americans in Prison? by Leon Nayfakh, also for Slate on February 6, shares a conversation with Fordham Law School Professor John Pfaff. Professor has looked hard at prison population stats, as the country looks at how to reduce the size of an ever-expanding—and very expensive—prison system. People have assumed the problem was criminalizing drugs and lengthy sentences. Professor Pfaff sees a different culprit:  an increase in prosecutorial charging, i.e., charging more and more arrestees with higher level felonies.

Roger Angell is an American treasure (although, I’m sure, he’d balk at the sobriquet.) He’s been writing for the New Yorker, beautifully, for more than 70 years. (His mother worked for the magazine from 1925 until 1960, and married to E.B. White when Mr. Angell was a child. His father, an attorney, led the American Civil Liberties Union.) I just ran across This Old Man from the February 17, 2014 issue of the New Yorker. It’s terrific, and I don’t know how I missed it. (I just double-checked, thinking maybe I had mentioned it a year ago. I didn’t.)

If you haven’t heard about Shake Shack, you will soon. It’s the Danny Meyer, hot dog stand in Madison Square Park in New York 15 years ago grown up and a public company. (For stock details, the symbol is SHAK.) Here’s The Inside Story of How Shake Shack Makes Their Cheeseburgers So Delicious by Matt Duckor for Epicurious.com on January 15. (By the way, the website has had a big makeover.)

As it happens, Chipotle is a the major player in the “fast-casual” dining world in which Shake Shack has quickly become a major player. Chipotle: The Definitive Oral History was written by Kyle Stock and Venessa Wong for BloombergBusiness. If you’re into food or business, or both, it’s worth your time.

P.S. The juxtaposition of a piece about pre-school teacher pay and prison populations did catch the Curator’s attention.