The Primos Podcast: A Father-Son Podcast by Thomas Haenle

In episode 15, Thomas Haenle interviews his great-grandmother, Josephine Day Huff, who is 98 years old, as she answers questions and tells us about some memories from her upbringing.  Mama Jo also happens to be the inspiration for the middle name of Thomas’s sister, Mabel Day Haenle.

In episode 14, Thomas Haenle and Liz (Thomas’s mother/fellow movie-goer) review and discuss about the new Disney film “Elemental”. Over the last 2 weeks Thomas and Liz have watched the film twice, the second time with Mabel (Thomas’s sister) and Paul (Thomas's Dad). In this episode Thomas asks Liz a variety of questions based on the movie while Liz answers them and explains her overall views about the film.

In episode 13, Thomas Haenle talks about his recent trips to Malacca and Bali.  In March, Thomas took a trip with his Dad to Malacca over a weekend.  He refers to the trip as the March Malacca Madness.  in Malacca, Thomas and his Dad learned about the influence of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the Chinese (Peranakan) as well as religious influences of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.  In Bali, Thomas traveled with his entire family and spent a week at the Ayana Resort where they did a lot of swimming, relaxing, and eating.  One day during the trip, Thomas and his family traveled to Ubud, Indonesia and spent the day white water rafting.

In episode 12, while out walking his dog Grover, Thomas Haenle shares the excitement of seeing Harry Styles in concert in Singapore as a birthday gift from his Mom and Dad.  The concert took place on Friday March 17th, 2 days before Thomas’s 13th birthday on March 19th.  In the podcast, Thomas reminds his Dad that he has not yet turned into a ‘moody brat’ teenager, which is of great relief to his parents.  As for the concert, Thomas tells the story of one of the male guests at the concert that proposed marriage to his fiancé at the concert while engaging Harry Styles up on stage.  Some of Thomas’ favorite songs performed by Styles at the concert included  Watermelon Sugar, Late Night Talking, Music for a Sushi Restaurant, Cinema, Treat People with Kindness, Matilda as well as the four signs that made up his encore — Sign of the Times, She’s Dressed as a Banana, and Kiwi. He closes the podcast by sharing how he pranked his NaiNai and Aunt JuJu during the concert!

In episode 11, Thomas Haenle shares his perspectives of what it has been like to live in Singapore for the past year and a half.  After 10 years of living in Beijing and a year and a half of living in the US during the global pandemic, Thomas and his family moved to Singapore in August 2021.  After two weeks of quarantine, Thomas and his then 4-year old sister were given a surprise gift of a brand new yellow lab puppy they named Grover.  Grover very quickly became a beloved and integral member of the Haenle family.   In the podcast, Thomas also talks about all the fun activities he has done in Singapore since arriving to include Sentosa Water Cover, Ifly (one of the world's largest indoor skydiving wind tunnels), Forest Adventure (an outdoor activity center with zip lines and obstacle courses above the treetops and over water), indoor trampoline park Bounce.  He also talks about Singapore’s terrific annual F1 Grand Prix.  Finally, Thomas shares his love of Singapore’s hawker stands and delicious food.

In episode 10, Thomas reviews his favorite movie picks of 2023 in 3 genres — Marvel movies, animated, and horror.  In the category of Marvel, reviews a number of new films to include the newest in the Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy series and discusses upcoming movies Shazam 2, Dungeons and Dragons, and many more.  In the animated series, Thomas shares his views on recent movies he watched to include Elemental and Mummies as well as covers some of the old classics such as Monsters University, Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, and Coco.  Finally, Thomas covers his favorite genre of all — HORROR — and talks about his favorite movie director M. Night Shamalan and his most famous technique of including a twist at the end!  Thomas talks about some of M. Night Shamalan’s older movies like the classic Sixth Sense as well as The Village, The Visit, Signs, and Old.  He also dives deep into this year’s Shamalan movie — Knock at the Cabin.

In episode 9, Thomas brings onto the podcast his two great friends, Romeo and Eros, to discuss their recent experience enjoying Sentosa’s Adventure Cove Water Park and Dolphin Island. Thomas met Romeo and Eros shortly after arriving in Singapore as both our family’s live in the same condo, The Trizon.  They hit it off immediately and spent countless hours playing in the Trizon’s big swimming pool or just running around the condo complex or spending time together back and forth in each other’s apartments.  This podcast was recorded after a slumber party in Thomas’ bedroom on New Year’s eve 2021.   The 3 boys discuss their recent experience on the thrilling water slides at the Sentosa Adventure Cove Waterpark.  They all agree the most exciting ride at the park is, hands down, the Riptide Rocket.  They also really enjoyed and share with the listeners the excitement of getting up very close with the magnificent Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins at Dolphin Island.  Romeo and Eros are from Switzerland, have been in Singapore for close to 2 years and, sadly, are preparing to return soon to their home back in Switzerland.

In episode 8, Thomas Haenle recaps the fun he and his family had on the Singapore island of Sentoso over the Christmas holiday 2021.  He talks about his experience with Hydrodash, the Mega-Zipline with his Mom and 4-year old sister Mabel, the Sentosa Luge, and the many exciting rides at Sentosa’s Universal Studios.

In episode 7, Thomas Haenle reports in from Singapore where he and his family moved in August 2021, after a year and a half in the US (Cape Cod) during the pandemic.  Thomas shares with his listeners in this episode the fun he and his family are having during the Christmas holidays in December 2021 at the Rasa Sentosa Resort at Siloso Beach in Singapore.  Thomas describes all the cool activities he has been doing including kayaking, paddle boarding, water pedal boats, and the MegaAdventure zipline!

In this episode, 10-year old Thomas Haenle and his Dad discuss events of the first year of the global pandemic while taking a hike through the Mashpee Woodlands in Cape Cod.  While the global pandemic caused a number of disruptions and disappointments, Thomas and his family also found some real silver linings.  Thomas also shares how he and his family celebrated the holidays -- Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years -- during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

In this episode of the Primos Podcast, 10-year old Thomas Haenle sets off to find a new rope swing at Micah Pond in Osterville, Cape Cod after dealing with the disappointment of his favorite rope swing at Eagle Pond in Cotuit being taken down.  As he walks along the pond's path in search for a new rope swing, Thomas discusses the Silver Linings he has discovered this summer while living through the Coronavirus global pandemic. He shares with his listeners the joy he has found this summer in boating, tubing, fishing, swinging from ropes and exploring the local bays, ponds and other waterways. 

In episode 4 of the Primos Podcast, 10-year old Thomas Haenle continues to explore the Silver Linings of the Coronavirus global pandemic by telling his listeners about one of the best movies he watched this summer -- the 1984 classic Karate Kid with actor Ralph Macchio playing Daniel LaRusso.  This is part of Thomas' series where he explores new and interesting books, cool music, & fun movies.  In examining the Karate Kid, Thomas explains his favorite part of the movie -- the surprise twist around Daniel's Karate training regime.  

In episode 3 of the Primos Podcast, 10-year old Thomas Haenle shares with his listeners the innovative way he has set up his backyard to show movies to his friends during the coronavirus pandemic.  All under the name "Scapeland Studies," Thomas hangs a sheet over his zipline in front of a movie projector, places blankets on the lawn 6 feet apart (in according with social distancing guidelines), provides popcorn and 'retro-candy,' and gathers all his friends in Cotuit to join the fun in his backyard.   We've learned the being 'multi-flexi-changeable' during the pandemic is the key to making things happen.

In episode 2, Thomas tells his listeners how his school — Dulwich College of Beijing — carries out is awards ceremony using a virtual format given the ongoing global pandemic.  He was excited to learn that his house — the Alleyn House — won the 2020 Scavenger Hunt.  Thomas also got nominated for Best Online Sports Contributors and for Team Sports for handball.  Thomas was very excited that Thomas’ main teacher and handball coach won the Coach of the Year award.

The Coronavirus Through the Eyes of a 10-year Old: In this new podcast, 10-year old Thomas Haenle talks with his father about  his views of the Coronavirus and what he is doing to cope with the downsides of the global pandemic.  Importantly, Thomas and his father explore where Thomas has found real upsides (i.e. the Silver Linings!) and what Thomas is doing to take advantage of this time by exploring new and interesting books, cool music, & fun movies.