> Is there a way to handle special text formatting, such as
> superscripts, in feeds?

Yes and no. Because the RSS 2.0 specification [1] has been
so poorly written there is a group which refers to itself
as the RSS-Board which is currently rewriting the specification.

The public discussion is held at rss-public@yahoogroups.com
which you can subscribe to and issue comments.

You can also follow along by reading the "Spec Library" via
RSS-Board.org [2].

One concern I have is the fact that there are four different
RSS 2.0 elements which depend on an accurate date-time
format: pubDate, lastBuildDate, skipHours and skipDays.

The only way to accurately determine the time is to use
a time zone offset, e.g -0600 as the case may be. A value
which the official RSS 2.0 specification refers to when it
references RFC 822 (which is obsolete and superceded by
RFC 2822) but one which former authoritative sources as
well as current RSS-Board members are not taking seriously
and seem reticent to even discuss.

<%= Clinton Gallagher


[1] http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
[2] http://www.rssboard.org/