On 28 January 2026, I sat down with Professor Robin Room over a Teams call to discuss his influential research on alcohol, which began in the early 1960s and continues today. He was speaking to me from his crowded, book-lined study in Melbourne. Despite decades in the U.S., his strong Australian accent, intellectual generosity, and warmth made talking with him a pleasure. His enthusiasm for the all-too-human propensity to enjoy alcohol, illegal drugs, and gambling was palpabl