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So Long Big Mo from Jim the Shrink
It was John Heim aka Big Mo’s last show last night. Dennis Green was there to shake his hand. Big Mo got a box of memorabilia. And he got a ton of posts and calls. He talked to Dennis about starting a new show at KCCK and he sounded more than half-serious. Retirement is hard.…
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Talk About Talk Therapy
I saw this great blog post about psychotherapy by Dr. George Dawson a couple of days ago and it reminded me of an academic research rounds presentation made about 15 years ago by University of Iowa Health Care Dept of Psychiatry faculty member, Dr. Bruce Pfohl, MD Professor Emeritus. The title of his talk was…
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New York City Memories
The recent New York Post story about the man who shoved a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher down a flight of subway stairs caught my attention. The assailant had been sent to Bellevue for a court-ordered psychiatric assessment for similar agitated behavior not long before this assault. My understanding from news stories is that he was held…
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Big Mo Blues Show Penultimate KCCK Party
John Heim, aka Big Mo of Iowa KCCK radio blues show delivered his penultimate program last night. I heard the “penultimate” title from Ron Adkins who announced it on his Afternoon Jazz show which comes just before the Big Mo blues show. It’s one of those adult words that Big Mo would probably never use—only…
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Mental Health Affirmations for May 6, 2026
Today is May 6, 2026 and the Mental Health Awareness affirmation for today (from the Mental Health Awareness calendar) is about Affirmations: “Affirmations can improve people’s overall well-being, help them feel better about themselves, and reduce anxiety. Pick a supportive phrase and repeat it today.” I picked one from the list of suggested affirmations: “I…
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The Excitable Electrons
I’ve talked about some of my college professors when I was attending, Huston-Tillotson College in the 1970s. It’s an HBCU in Austin, Texas. But I haven’t talked about my teachers elsewhere. That just occurred to me in the last few days. I had some exciting teachers at Iowa State University in Ames in the early…
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All That Digital News
I guess you have to be a certain age to develop the habit of doomscrolling. I’m not minimizing the problem. I just can’t see how anybody gets into it. I’m talking about digital news websites. It’s a tableau of yawners every day. It’s full of models, goggle-eyed golden retrievers, and ads for knuckle removers (“Do…
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John Heim aka Big Mo Retiring from the Big Mo Blues Show
We were listening to the KCCK radio Big Mo Blues Show last night when John Heim aka Big Mo announced he’s retiring as of May 15, 2026. Iowa musician Ed English (Uncle Ed of the Beaker Brothers band) was also in the studio and remarked that he’ll be taking over the show sometime after that.…
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AI Chatbots and Psychiatry: Embrace or Dislodge?
I’ve just finished reading a couple of online articles about Chatbot use by patients who then present either to psychiatrists or psychotherapists (not that they can’t be one and the same!) and I’m a little puzzled. The title of my blog post came partly from what my wife, Sena, always says about Artificial Intelligence—which is…
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“Life is Beautiful”
We heard the song “Life is Beautiful” by Keb’ Mo’ last night on the Big Mo Blues Show. It was released 20 years ago. Big Mo said it helped him get through a difficult time. We think the song is beautiful and so do hundreds of other people on the YouTube video posted 16 years…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 