Les Carr
lescarr.bsky.social
Les Carr
@lescarr.bsky.social
60 year old nerdy guy with a job researching AI and the science of online life at the University of Southampton, and a side hustle in standup comedy.
There simply isn’t enough Banjo Beale content in the world, even with the new Ulva hotel restoration series on BBC. Can I subscribe to a dedicated Grampa-the-dog cam feed? Take my money you impetuous, ambitious, visionary pair of adopted Scots!
January 11, 2026 at 12:33 AM
One of my favourite holiday filmed is “Spirited” with Will Ferrell. His big song, and the question the whole movie turns on, is “Am I Forever Unredeemable”. Of course, it should have been “Am I Forever Irredeemable”, which is ironically something they can never put right.
January 2, 2026 at 8:32 PM
I'm reading around on vibe coding to develop some teaching materials for my undergrads. The first book starts with a canonical example of writing an app to estimate the time to read a podcast script, based on its word count.

GENUINELY who would *write an app* to solve this problem? This is insane!
January 1, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Don’t forget the reason for the season - it’s the tilt of the earth’s axis! So I’m about to watch sunrise over Stonehenge on the English Heritage YouTube channel www.youtube.com/live/FEnQmoc...
Winter Solstice 2025: Sunrise Live from Stonehenge
YouTube video by English Heritage
www.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 7:23 AM
A Christmas film for all the bros youtube.com/shorts/jBjfk...
A Christmas Film For Male Loneliness
YouTube video by Ali Woods
youtube.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:28 AM
It’s terrible that @robinince.bsky.social has had to leave the BBC because of his public pro-trans opinions. Science comedy isn’t always funny. www.chortle.co.uk/news/2025/12...
Robin Ince forced to quit Radio 4 over pro-trans views : News 2025 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide
Robin Ince forced to quit Radio 4 over pro-trans views - Comic leaves Infinite Monkey Cage after pressure from bosses
www.chortle.co.uk
December 13, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Hey ChatGPT show me a successful publisher to invest in

vm.tiktok.com/ZNReHWCh2/
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:47 AM
My university students interviewed me about LLMs and this is the key frame that they chose on YouTube.
November 27, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Some physics humour for your timeline: Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Ohm in a car…

vm.tiktok.com/ZNRJWJRN7/
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Recent anecdotal evidence* shows it’s impossible not to feel happy when listening to this clip

*listening to it on a rainy Monday morning

youtu.be/CLP15B43uNA
It Feels Like Christmas - Fall Out Boy
YouTube video by piggy
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Enjoy Christmas Science Comedy cheer with Dr Paul Conway explaining the Moral Psychology of Santa's Naughty List! Our professional comedy headliner is a cancer scientist that The Guardian described as "deliciously funny".

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/southampto...
Southampton Science Comedy!
A December evening of science-themed stand-up comedy, stories, and silliness from some of Southampton’s funniest and nerdiest people!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 8:48 AM
My iPhone’s FaceID is refusing to recognise me today and my ego is taking it badly.
November 19, 2025 at 12:31 PM
A bit of musical science comedy for your timeline - what could be better? vm.tiktok.com/ZNdEgoqU2/
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Calling all Women in STEM!
November's Southampton Science Comedy features women in STEM who rap, control AIs and electrocute men - because science! Come along and bring your friends!!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/southampto...
Southampton Science Comedy!
An November evening of science-themed stand-up comedy, stories, and silliness from some of Southampton’s funniest and nerdiest people!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Southampton Science Comedy is back this week, on Thursday 16th October. Get your tickets to see the brilliant Farah Sharp perform with researchers and students from @unisouthampton.bsky.social

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/southampto...
Southampton Science Comedy!
An October evening of science-themed stand-up comedy, stories, and silliness from some of Southampton’s funniest and nerdiest people!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
October 12, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Les Carr
Brilliantly thought-provoking workshop on critical and ethical sociological engagement with LMMs in Naples this morning led by @jessogden.bsky.social @lescarr.bsky.social @sociodigfutures.bsky.social @bdfi.bsky.social #rc33 #isa #11ICSSM #Methodology
September 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I’m in Naples for the 11ICSSM conference to run a workshop on LLMs and give a paper about social scientists responses to AI with @susanjhalford.bsky.social .
September 21, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Reposted by Les Carr
Scraping tools like @digitalmethods.net Zeeschuimer, @lescarr.bsky.social WDRA are *vital* for social media research but how widely are they used? 🤔

If you use these tools or similar in your work, please reply 'teaching' 'research' 'both' 👇🏽 or via email if preferred 🤗

#AcademicSky
September 4, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Southampton Science comedy is back in October. Get your tickets to see the brilliant Farah Sharp perform with researchers and students from @unisouthampton.bsky.social

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/southampto...
Southampton Science Comedy!
An October evening of science-themed stand-up comedy, stories, and silliness from some of Southampton’s funniest and nerdiest people!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
September 14, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Me: my research demonstrates the benefits of large language models for qualitative research

Also Me: The Last Teams Meeting
September 12, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I’m just planning a computer science undergraduate training session called “friends don’t let friends vibe code” @softwaresaved.bsky.social
August 21, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Please stop all this “PhD-level” nonsense when talking about how much an LLM “knows”. A PhD is about being able to systematically create new knowledge. Knowing everything in that field is just a small part of the qualification.
August 10, 2025 at 5:57 AM
Who says LLMs can’t do comedy? I just tried to use ChatGPT to convert my little #edfringe spreadsheet of shows into an ICS file for my calendar. It wrote a python program with a missing import module, and blamed my data formatting. Now that’s funny!
August 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM