diff --git a/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/Feed.java b/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/Feed.java
index 42221fc31..0f7ebc63a 100644
--- a/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/Feed.java
+++ b/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/Feed.java
@@ -170,16 +170,7 @@ public class Feed extends FeedFile {
 		} else {
 			return download_url;
 		}
-	}
-
-	/** Calls cacheDescriptions on all items. */
-	protected void cacheDescriptionsOfItems() {
-		if (items != null) {
-			for (FeedItem item : items) {
-				item.cacheDescriptions();
-			}
-		}
-	}
+    }
 
 	public void updateFromOther(Feed other) {
 		super.updateFromOther(other);
diff --git a/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/FeedItem.java b/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/FeedItem.java
index 67ffcb1c6..54682397e 100644
--- a/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/FeedItem.java
+++ b/src/de/danoeh/antennapod/feed/FeedItem.java
@@ -25,19 +25,14 @@ public class FeedItem extends FeedComponent implements
     private String itemIdentifier;
     private String title;
     /**
-     * The description of a feeditem. This field should only be set by the
-     * parser.
+     * The description of a feeditem.
      */
     private String description;
     /**
-     * The content of the content-encoded tag of a feeditem. This field should
-     * only be set by the parser.
+     * The content of the content-encoded tag of a feeditem.
      */
     private String contentEncoded;
 
-    private SoftReference<String> cachedDescription;
-    private SoftReference<String> cachedContentEncoded;
-
     private String link;
     private Date pubDate;
     private FeedMedia media;
@@ -87,21 +82,6 @@ public class FeedItem extends FeedComponent implements
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Moves the 'description' and 'contentEncoded' field of feeditem to their
-     * SoftReference fields.
-     */
-    protected void cacheDescriptions() {
-        if (description != null) {
-            cachedDescription = new SoftReference<String>(description);
-        }
-        if (contentEncoded != null) {
-            cachedContentEncoded = new SoftReference<String>(contentEncoded);
-        }
-        description = null;
-        contentEncoded = null;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Returns the value that uniquely identifies this FeedItem. If the
      * itemIdentifier attribute is not null, it will be returned. Else it will
@@ -127,9 +107,6 @@ public class FeedItem extends FeedComponent implements
     }
 
     public String getDescription() {
-        if (description == null && cachedDescription != null) {
-            return cachedDescription.get();
-        }
         return description;
     }
 
@@ -182,10 +159,6 @@ public class FeedItem extends FeedComponent implements
     }
 
     public String getContentEncoded() {
-        if (contentEncoded == null && cachedContentEncoded != null) {
-            return cachedContentEncoded.get();
-
-        }
         return contentEncoded;
     }
 
@@ -228,14 +201,6 @@ public class FeedItem extends FeedComponent implements
         return false;
     }
 
-    public void setCachedDescription(String d) {
-        cachedDescription = new SoftReference<String>(d);
-    }
-
-    public void setCachedContentEncoded(String c) {
-        cachedContentEncoded = new SoftReference<String>(c);
-    }
-
     @Override
     public Callable<String> loadShownotes() {
         return new Callable<String>() {