Invalid token

1

I am getting an error containing invalid token when I try add certain podcast. I understand this means that there is some error from the podcasters end that has to be fixed. Is this true? Why is this same podcast working fone when I tried to open it from Spotify and Podbean? What can I tell the podcaster to help them fix this issue? Thank you

2

Getting a similar error -
The podcast host’s server sent a broken podcast feed.

Technical reason:
At line 62, column 102: not well-formed (invalid token)

File URL:
https://api.quantamagazine.org/feed/the-joy-of-why

Spotify loads the podcast without issue

3

Though it’s nice to add error tolerance to the podcast player, I concur that it’s even better to report the errors so the podcasts can be fixed. I’d recommend an RSS feed validation tool like this one: W3C Feed Validation Service, for Atom and RSS

2 Likes
4

I ran that file through the validator and it found more than ten lines that didn’t pass the screen.
https://validator.w3.org/feed/check.cgi?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.quantamagazine.org%2Ffeed%2Fthe-joy-of-why

1 Like
5

Looks like SLP (short-lived phenomenon) – The podcast is syncing fine now – maybe they corrected the syntax problem.

Thanks for the link to the syntax checker – it may be handy. in future

(as a lowly podcast listener, I’d vote for greater tolerance in players for non-fatal errors – I’m not even sure who I would report a syntax error to on the podcaster’s side)

6

I’m glad to hear it’s working well again. I do agree that greater tolerance of improper syntax is better than a poke in the eye, and would hope that all podcasts have some sort of feedback mechanism (social media or email?) where these kinds of issues could be reported.

7

The problem is that this will end up similar to html: clients accepting more and more broken syntax will lead to creators using more and more broken syntax. At some point almost all the parsing is about trying to guess what the creator meant, not about parsing an actual standard format. We already do a bunch of guessing to work around broken podcast feeds. We can’t keep adding more and more workarounds

1 Like
8

Well said. Folks have already expressed concern about sync speeds, which are slowed in part by that kind of client-side parsing.