diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index b68a1007..b350fb68 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def set_episode
       @episode = Episode.active
     else
       if params[:episode] == 'all'
-        @episode = 'all'
+        @episode = :all
       else
         @episode = Episode.find_by(id: params[:episode])
       end
diff --git a/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml b/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml
index 98edeee8..30357ba9 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
       %ul.nav.navbar-nav.hidden-xs
         %li.dropdown
           = link_to(projects_path(@episode), {class: "navbar-brand"}) do
-            - if @episode == 'all'
+            - if @episode == :all
               = "All Hackweeks"
             - else
               = @episode.name if @episode
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
             %i.fa.fa-caret-square-o-down
           %ul.dropdown-menu{:role => "menu"}
             %li{:role => "presentation"}
-              = link_to(projects_path('all'), {title: "Projects for all hackweeks"}) do
+              = link_to(projects_path(:all), {title: "Projects for all hackweeks"}) do
                 All Hackweeks
             - Episode.all.reverse.each do |episode|
               %li{:role => "presentation"}
diff --git a/app/views/projects/newest.rss.haml b/app/views/projects/newest.rss.haml
index ebfad362..8accacbd 100644
--- a/app/views/projects/newest.rss.haml
+++ b/app/views/projects/newest.rss.haml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
                rel="self"
                type="application/rss+xml")
 
-    -if @episode
+    -if @episode.is_a? Episode
       %title Newest #{ @episode.name } projects
       %description These are the newest projects for the #{ @episode.name }
     -else
diff --git a/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb
index 9ff8dc56..4172314a 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/projects_controller_spec.rb
@@ -360,6 +360,10 @@
         expect(xml.xpath('//item').count).to eq 10
         expect(xml.xpath('//item/title').first.text).to eq project.title
       end
+
+      it 'works for :all episodes' do
+        expect {get :newest, episode: :all, format: :rss}.not_to raise_error
+      end
     end
   end
 end