Why can't RSS handle the ampersand?
encoding, rss, xml
Solution
When a 'raw' `&` is seen, the interpreter is looking for one of the valid escaped & sequences (such as `'&'` ). When an invalid sequence is found it throws an error. That's all there is to it.
Problem
When I come across a broken RSS feed, the usual reason its all blown to pieces is because line 23 says "Sanford & Sons." The most confusing thing is the fact that if you convert the `&` into `&`, all is well, even though your alternative still contains the problem character. Why does RSS fail at rendering the ampersand (`&`) character by default?