Ghostbusters (1984)

#030726

Selects: How Spiritualism Works "Dan Aykroyd is huge into UFOs and spirits and ghosts. It's one of the impetuses of him writing Ghostbusters." — Josh Discussed how Dan Aykroyd's personal beliefs in spiritualism influenced his creation of the Ghostbusters screenplay.

Mar 7, 2026 #101825

Selects: How ESP Works (?) "Ghostbusters really did a number on you. Yes. When that came along, I was like, this was made for me." — Chuck Chuck mentions how Ghostbusters influenced his childhood interest in paranormal phenomena and ESP.

Oct 18, 2025 #022025

Inner Dialogues, Monologues and Stone Cold Silence "I would imagine hard to do, kind of like Ghostbusters, you know, don't clear your mind." — Chuck Chuck references the film's 'don't think of the word' concept to compare with the difficulty of not thinking of a suggested image.

Feb 20, 2025 #112124

The Story of Tavern on the Green "If you've seen the very first Ghostbusters, when Rick Moranis runs up and bangs on the window before getting attacked. That is the Crystal Room." — Chuck Chuck explains that the famous Crystal Room at Tavern on the Green was featured in the original Ghostbusters film.

Nov 21, 2024 #111224

Kids' Chemistry Sets: KABOOM! "You could recreate that scene from Ghost, but for cheap." — Chuck Chuck references the famous pottery wheel scene from Ghost when discussing a pottery wheel toy.

Nov 12, 2024 #101224

Selects: How Paramedics Work "The Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters ambulance is a modified Cadillac hearse." — Josh Josh references the Ghostbusters ambulance as an example of a hearse being used for transport, making a joke about the morbid implications.

Oct 12, 2024 #091824

Short Stuff: The Killing Stone "It sounds like it was shaped kind of like Slimer from Ghostbusters." — Josh Josh compared the shape of the large stone to Slimer, a ghost character from the movie.

Sep 18, 2024 #071324

Selects: Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Feminist Physician "Unless it's Ghostbusters, that definitely holds up, friend." — Josh Josh argued that Ghostbusters is a classic comedy that ages well, unlike some other films from that era.

Jul 13, 2024 #050224

Atomic Clocks, Ahoy! "it's like that one guy who's being tested for ESP at the beginning of Ghostbusters." — Chuck

May 2, 2024 #021724

Selects: Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't "The Ghostbusters running around shooting off proton packs inside that thing." — Josh Josh makes a reference to Ghostbusters when discussing the potential problems of having Manhattan covered by a geodesic dome.

Feb 17, 2024 #112523

Selects: NYC Water: An Engineering Marvel "It is where the New York Public Library is now today, where the Ghostbusters did some of their early work." — Josh Josh referenced the famous library location used in Ghostbusters filming.

Nov 25, 2023 #011923

Toast: As in browned bread "Bill Murray said, this chick is toast instead, and it just kind of took off from there." — Chuck They traced the modern usage of 'toast' (meaning finished/done) back to Bill Murray's ad-libbed line in Ghostbusters.

Jan 19, 2023 #011223

How Tarot Works? "we showed my daughter the original Ghostbusters for the first time last week" — Chuck Chuck discusses watching the original Ghostbusters film with his seven-year-old daughter and praising how well it held up.

Jan 12, 2023 #121522

Interesting Origins of Everyday Phrases "The original Ghostbusters is the best because it's the best." — Josh Used as a humorous example of circular logic (petitio principii) in argumentation.

Dec 15, 2022 #091322

The Georgia Guidestones: The Elite Have a Laugh "Ghostbusters is six years before Ghostbusters." — Josh Josh uses Ghostbusters as a time reference point when discussing when the Georgia Guidestones were erected in 1980.

Sep 13, 2022 #052721

Night Trap: The Video Game Failure that Changed the Industry "They turned out to be in the end, were loping vampires who used what looked like a Ghostbusters Proton pack." — Chuck Chuck describes the augurs' weapon in Night Trap as resembling a Ghostbusters Proton pack.

May 27, 2021 #052221

Selects: How Hot Wheels Work "like the Ghostbusters Ectomobile, right. Or even more than that, they have a deal with Eminem Mars for 2015." — Chuck Providing examples of branded Hot Wheels licensing, specifically mentioning the Ghostbusters Ectomobile.

May 22, 2021 #010521

Space Weather - What's That?! "Like when the proton streams cross and ghostbusters, when that happens, something called a solar flare happens." — Josh Josh uses Ghostbusters as an analogy to explain magnetic field line interactions causing solar flares.

Jan 5, 2021 #112120

SYSK Selects: Whatever happened to acid rain? "Do you remember AOL Instant Messenger and the dial-up sound like poltergeist?" The dial-up sound is compared to the sound from Ghostbusters (poltergeist reference) in an advertisement for the Hey Dude podcast.

Nov 21, 2020 #103120

SYSK Selects: How Ghosts Work "the ghost busters emeter is going crazy. Right, exactly." — Josh Referenced when discussing EMF meters used by paranormal investigators, alluding to equipment from the Ghostbusters films.

Oct 31, 2020 #051920

How Spiritualism Works "one of the impetuses of him writing Ghostbusters" — Josh Josh explains that Dan Aykroyd's interest in spiritualism and ghosts influenced his writing of Ghostbusters.

May 19, 2020 #040920

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Feminist Physician "Unless it's Ghostbusters, that definitely holds up, friend." — Josh Josh argued that Ghostbusters is a classic comedy that has aged well, unlike other comedies from earlier decades.

Apr 9, 2020 #120719

SYSK Selects: How Amnesia Works "Caddyshack and Ghostbusters. And Ghostbusters." — Josh Harold Ramis's filmography mentioned in tribute to the director and writer

Dec 7, 2019 #111419

NYC Water: An Engineering Marvel "where the Ghostbusters did some of their early work" — Chuck Referenced in relation to the New York Public Library being built on the site of the former Murray Hill Reservoir.

Nov 14, 2019 #042719

SYSK Selects: How Zero Works "Isn't that Ghostbusters? I think so." — Chuck Chuck references Ghostbusters when discussing the Mayan word 'Zool' for a day, connecting it to the character Gozer from the film.

Apr 27, 2019 #050518

SYSK Selects: Are there undiscovered people? "was it 84 or 86? 84 and yes, we do know that there is a... It's 24 years." — Chuck Chuck and Josh discuss the original Ghostbusters release year while calculating how many years had passed since 2008.

May 5, 2018 #041218

How Paramedics Work "The Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters ambulance is a modified Cadillac hearse." — Josh Josh references the Ghostbusters ambulance as an example of a hearse being used for transportation.

Apr 12, 2018 #110317

Movie Crush: Tig Notaro on Mask "Tig: I think he was in Ghostbusters. Well, see, that's the thing is if somebody's just like a character actor, a working actor, I don't care." Tig mentions recognizing an actor from Ghostbusters who plays her stepfather in One Mississippi.

Nov 3, 2017 #100717

SYSK Selects: Did a cow start the Great Chicago Fire? "Ghostbusters is a hundred and thirteen years away." — Josh Josh calculates how far in the future Ghostbusters is from 1871 Chicago during their time travel discussion.

Oct 7, 2017 #042717

How Multiple Sclerosis Works "Like ghostbusters? So Billy kind of dropped out, and this was before MS." — Chuck Chuck makes a reference to Ghostbusters when joking about crossing streams while using a toilet in Billy's one-room cabin.

Apr 27, 2017 #070716

What's with this "Internet of Things"? "It's an arcane reference to the librarian at the beginning of Ghostbusters whose uncle thought he was St. Jerome." — Josh Josh explains the nickname 'Jerome' for Jerry is a reference to a character in Ghostbusters.

Jul 7, 2016 #070915

How Brickfilm Works "All right, Josh, you've got your Ghostbusters Lego brand kit." — Chuck Used as an example of a Lego set that could be used to make a brick film.

Jul 9, 2015 #061615

How BASE Jumping Works "Let's remake Ghostbusters, or just let Ghostbusters exist as great." — Josh Josh used Ghostbusters as an example when criticizing Hollywood's tendency to remake classic films.

Jun 16, 2015 #030315

How ESP Works(?) "Ghostbusters really did a number on you." — Chuck Chuck references how Josh's childhood interest in paranormal phenomena was influenced by the Ghostbusters movie, which used Zener cards in its plot.

Mar 3, 2015 #012915

How Hot Wheels Work "Like the Ghostbusters Ectomobile. Right." — Josh Referenced the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 as an example of branded Hot Wheels vehicles.

Jan 29, 2015 #122514

Josh and Chuck's 2014 Christmas Extravaganza! "I think Ghostbusters quickly dwarfed it" — Josh Josh mentions how Ghostbusters surpassed Porky's as a top-grossing comedy.

Dec 25, 2014 #112014

What is Collective Hysteria? "Dogs and cats living together." — Josh Josh references the famous line from Ghostbusters when discussing hysteria.

Nov 20, 2014 #012814

What's the deal with the debt ceiling? "Cats and dogs living together. Exactly. Mass hysteria." — Josh Used as a humorous reference to describe the catastrophic economic consequences of defaulting on debt.

Jan 28, 2014 #062013

How Ghosts Work "Because the ghost busters emeter is going crazy. Right. Exactly. What do they call that? I can't believe I can't remember that." — Josh Josh referenced Ghostbusters when discussing how paranormal investigators measure electromagnetic fields.

Jun 20, 2013 #061412

Whatever happened to acid rain? "And eventually it's just mass hysteria. Pretty much. Cats and dogs living together" — Josh Referenced the famous quote about mass hysteria to describe environmental collapse scenarios.

Jun 14, 2012 #050112

How did language evolve? "when I was six months young, 10 years after Ghostbusters" A listener mentions this movie as a time reference in their email to the hosts.

May 1, 2012 #021412

How Zero Works "Isn't that Ghostbusters? I think so. Okay. But that was what Sumerian. Oh, yeah. Zool was Sumerian." — Josh They discuss the Mayan day name 'Zool' and Josh connects it to the Ghostbusters villain Zuul.

Feb 14, 2012 #071411

Stuff You Should Know July 4th Extravaganza, Part 2: Baseball and Apple Pie "He was the dude in the Ghostbusters shirt" — Chuck Chuck describes what a fan was wearing at their live show.

Jul 14, 2011 #031011

Is it legal to sterilize addicts? "Joey sent us personalized Ghost Buster shirts." — Josh They're thanking a listener who sent them custom t-shirts designed like Ghostbusters uniforms.

Mar 10, 2011 #121610

How Migraines Work "he has not thrown up since 1984, since Ghostbusters, he said" — Chuck Chuck mentioned that their listener Aaron Cooper hasn't vomited since 1984, using Ghostbusters as a time reference for when he gained control over his vomit reflex during migraines.

Dec 16, 2010 #071310

How Reincarnation Works "20 years after Ghostbusters. Ah, very nice." — Josh Josh made a reference to Ghostbusters when calculating years after Adam Curry started podcasting.

Jul 13, 2010 #030210

Was Mesopotamia the Cradle of Civilization? "remember, in Ghostbusters, Gozo is a Sumerian god" — Josh Josh mentions this when discussing Sumerian/Mesopotamian civilization and references the fictional deity Gozer from the movie

Mar 2, 2010 #022310

How Bail Works "Who are you gonna call? Not Ghostbusters, a bail bond with Josh" — Josh Josh makes a reference to the famous Ghostbusters line when explaining who to call if you need bail money but can't afford the full amount.

Feb 23, 2010 #012810

Are there undiscovered people? "How many years after Ghostbusters? Let's see, hold on, was it 84 or 86? 84" — Josh Josh is calculating how many years had passed since Ghostbusters was released when discussing events from May 2008.

Jan 28, 2010 #102009

What is China's one-child policy? "short little 36 years before Ghostbusters" — Josh Josh uses Ghostbusters as a time reference point while discussing when Chairman Mao established the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Oct 20, 2009 #081309

Is fluoride making us stupid? "62 years from the release of Ghostbusters" — Chuck Chuck uses the movie's release date as a reference point when establishing they are in 1924.

Aug 13, 2009 #081109

What are Japanese stragglers? "Was it full decade before Ghostbusters? Correct? Yeah. Unfortunately." — Josh Josh uses Ghostbusters as a time reference point when discussing events in 1974.

Aug 11, 2009 #050709

How can a lake explode? "1986 Chuck, um, what? Ghostbusters is sweeping the nation." — Josh Josh referenced Ghostbusters when establishing the timeframe of 1986 during their time travel segment explaining Lake Nios.

May 7, 2009