Her father was Charles Throsby, an English barrister who died when she was 12, and her mother was Alison Battarbee, a cellist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
[2] Her morning program, The Margaret Throsby Show, on ABC Radio Sydney (then known as 2BL), won high audience ratings.
Each morning an hour was devoted to an interview with notable guests interspersed with some of their own musical choices[8] in a format devised by Throsby and the then manager, Peter James.
[9] In October of that year, it was announced that her program would no longer be aired, but she would continue to present concerts broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
[11] Over the course of her career, Throsby's thousands of interviewees have included Paul Keating, Jane Fonda, Bruce Beresford, Yvonne Kenny, John le Carre and Spike Milligan.