diff --git a/flake.lock b/flake.lock
index aad7ab2..d0b6d2f 100644
--- a/flake.lock
+++ b/flake.lock
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
   "nodes": {
     "nixpkgs": {
       "locked": {
-        "lastModified": 1776169885,
-        "narHash": "sha256-l/iNYDZ4bGOAFQY2q8y5OAfBBtrDAaPuRQqWaFHVRXM=",
+        "lastModified": 1781577229,
+        "narHash": "sha256-lrp67w8AulE9Ks53n27I45ADSzbOCn4H+CNW1Ck8B+8=",
         "owner": "NixOS",
         "repo": "nixpkgs",
-        "rev": "4bd9165a9165d7b5e33ae57f3eecbcb28fb231c9",
+        "rev": "567a49d1913ce81ac6e9582e3553dd90a955875f",
         "type": "github"
       },
       "original": {
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index aba581e..da54f8e 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ update-sql: prepare-db
 docker-build: 
     podman build . --network host -t "eater"
 
-
 # start docker compose with --build
 compose-up: docker-build
     podman compose up 
diff --git a/src/eater/backend/smtp.gleam b/src/eater/backend/smtp.gleam
index 0a018e2..4c3bc38 100644
--- a/src/eater/backend/smtp.gleam
+++ b/src/eater/backend/smtp.gleam
@@ -78,13 +78,36 @@ pub fn feed_update_to_email(
     feed.RssUpdate(new:, channel:) -> #(
       channel.title,
       new.title,
-      new.description,
+      case new.description {
+        option.Some(description) -> [html.text(description)]
+        option.None -> [
+          html.text(
+            "
+This RSS item doesn't have a description associated with it.
+
+If you think this is a problem with eater, please open an issue on ",
+          ),
+          html.a(
+            [
+              attribute.href(
+                "https://tangled.org/ollie.earth/eater/issues/new ",
+              ),
+            ],
+            [html.text("tangled")],
+          ),
+          html.text("or send me an email at "),
+          html.a([attribute.href("mailto:eater@ollie.earth")], [
+            html.text("eater@ollie.earth"),
+          ]),
+          html.text(". Thank you!"),
+        ]
+      },
       new.link,
     )
     feed.AtomUpdate(new:, feed:) -> #(
       feed.title,
       new.title,
-      new.summary,
+      [html.text(new.summary)],
       new.link,
     )
   }
@@ -98,7 +121,7 @@ pub fn feed_update_to_email(
     html.html([], [
       html.body([], [
         html.h1([], [html.text(update_title)]),
-        html.p([], [html.text(description)]),
+        html.p([], description),
         html.p([], [
           html.a([attribute.href(link)], [
             html.text("Open article"),
diff --git a/src/eater/feed.gleam b/src/eater/feed.gleam
index 48b437f..a8a43ac 100644
--- a/src/eater/feed.gleam
+++ b/src/eater/feed.gleam
@@ -64,7 +64,17 @@ pub type Channel {
 }
 
 pub type FeedDetails {
-  RssChannelDetails(title: String, link: String, description: String)
+  /// `title`, `link` and `description` are required
+  /// by the rss 2.0 standard
+  ///
+  /// But since it is quite common for feeds to be missing the `description` field, 
+  /// we've made it optional. So we may still support these feeds in some capacity.
+  ///
+  RssChannelDetails(
+    title: String,
+    link: String,
+    description: option.Option(String),
+  )
   AtomDetails(title: String, link: String, updated: timestamp.Timestamp)
 }
 
@@ -72,7 +82,11 @@ fn rss_channel_decoder() -> decode.Decoder(Channel) {
   use title <- decode.subfield(["title", "$text"], decode.string)
 
   use link <- link_decoder()
-  use description <- decode.subfield(["description", "$text"], decode.string)
+  use description <- decode.then(decode.optionally_at(
+    ["description", "$text"],
+    option.None,
+    decode.optional(decode.string),
+  ))
   use items <- decode.field("item", decode.list(rss_item_decoder()))
   decode.success(Channel(RssChannelDetails(title:, link:, description:), items:))
 }
@@ -128,7 +142,10 @@ pub type Item {
   /// `title`, `link` and `description` are required
   /// by the rss 2.0 standard
   ///
-  RssItem(title: String, link: String, description: String)
+  /// But since it is quite common for feeds to be missing the `description` field, 
+  /// we've made it optional. So we may still support these feeds in some capacity.
+  ///
+  RssItem(title: String, link: String, description: option.Option(String))
 }
 
 pub type Entry {
@@ -145,7 +162,13 @@ pub type Entry {
 fn rss_item_decoder() -> decode.Decoder(Item) {
   use title <- decode.subfield(["title", "$text"], decode.string)
   use link <- decode.subfield(["link", "$text"], decode.string)
-  use description <- decode.subfield(["description", "$text"], decode.string)
+
+  use description <- decode.then(decode.optionally_at(
+    ["description", "$text"],
+    option.None,
+    decode.optional(decode.string),
+  ))
+
   decode.success(RssItem(title:, link:, description:))
 }
 
diff --git a/test/eater_test.gleam b/test/eater_test.gleam
index bd5f34d..00809e5 100644
--- a/test/eater_test.gleam
+++ b/test/eater_test.gleam
@@ -111,3 +111,64 @@ pub fn use_first_link_test() {
   let assert Ok("some-link") =
     xml.parse(text, feed.link_decoder(decode.success))
 }
+
+pub fn rss_channel_missing_description_test() {
+  // snippet from https://coding.social/blog/rss.xml as of 26.06.2026
+  let input =
+    "<rss xmlns:content=\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\" version=\"2.0\">
+  <channel>
+    <title>Social coding commons | Blog</title>
+    <link>https://coding.social/</link>
+    <language>en</language>
+    <item>
+      <title>Fediverse of dreams</title>
+      <link>https://coding.social/blog/fediverse-of-dreams/</link>
+      <guid isPermaLink=\"true\">https://coding.social/blog/fediverse-of-dreams/</guid>
+      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
+      <content:encoded><p><em><strong>Invest in your dreams</strong></em></p>
+      </content:encoded>
+    </item>
+    <item>
+      <title>Grassroots fediverse evolution</title>
+      <link>https://coding.social/blog/grassroots-evolution/</link>
+      <guid isPermaLink=\"true\">https://coding.social/blog/grassroots-evolution/</guid>
+      <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
+      <content:encoded><p><em>The ActivityPub fediverse is doing great, right?</em></p>
+      </content:encoded>
+    </item>
+  </channel>
+</rss>"
+
+  let assert Ok(_) = xml.parse(input, feed.rss_decoder())
+}
+
+pub fn rss_item_missing_description_test() {
+  // snippet from https://coding.social/blog/rss.xml as of 26.06.2026
+  let input =
+    "<rss xmlns:content=\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\" version=\"2.0\">
+  <channel>
+    <title>Social coding commons | Blog</title>
+    <description/>
+    <link>https://coding.social/</link>
+    <language>en</language>
+    <item>
+      <title>Fediverse of dreams</title>
+      <link>https://coding.social/blog/fediverse-of-dreams/</link>
+      <guid isPermaLink=\"true\">https://coding.social/blog/fediverse-of-dreams/</guid>
+      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
+      <content:encoded><p><em><strong>Invest in your dreams</strong></em></p>
+      </content:encoded>
+    </item>
+    <item>
+      <title>Grassroots fediverse evolution</title>
+      <link>https://coding.social/blog/grassroots-evolution/</link>
+      <guid isPermaLink=\"true\">https://coding.social/blog/grassroots-evolution/</guid>
+      <pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
+      <content:encoded><p><em>The ActivityPub fediverse is doing great, right?</em></p>
+      </content:encoded>
+    </item>
+  </channel>
+</rss>"
+
+  let assert Ok(_) = xml.parse(input, feed.rss_decoder())
+}