5 Questions with Linda Marigliano
Linda Marigliano is one of Australia's most popular and respected personalities. From a loyal two million listeners at Triple J, to a permanent fixture in the Australian media for the past 15 years, Linda is the warm commanding host who has delivered creative projects across television, radio, podcasting and publishing.
In 2021, she created her award-winning podcast Tough Love and has regularly hosted the likes of Splendour in the Grass, Laneway Festival, New Year's Eve Live from The Sydney Opera House, and The Set on ABC TV.
No.1
In Love Language, your debut memoir, you discuss life as a people pleaser, putting your own needs aside to meet those of others, with your dual Italian and Chinese-Malaysian heritage overlapping in the duties and responsibilities you were taught to uphold. What first inspired you to write the memoir?
I’ve always loved documenting things; I kept so many diaries when I was growing up. And then, in 2021 when I created the Tough Love podcast, it inspired me to look at my life as if I were a documentary maker digging around for the best story. I realised that I could be vulnerable as well as analytical, all under the umbrella of a compelling plotline. It was exciting to think of how I could expand the ideas of family, culture and how we show love in our relationships into a book, and go even deeper into that tender world!
No.2
What did your writing process look like as you took Love Language to completion? Did you discover anything surprising or challenging about yourself?
I have never worked in such a quiet, introspective setting. I’ve been so used to loud radio and TV studios, nightclubs and a constant collaborative team approach. Without people around you saying ‘Let’s do this!’ every day, it was a new challenge to find the energy within myself to get words written, as well as to back myself and my ideas. I had to become disciplined and imaginative in ways I hadn’t needed to tap into before. What surprised me was just how much I fell in love with the way that writing feels. You get to create a world and fill it with the stuff in your head. It’s kind of spectacular.
No.3
You’re best known for your work on Australian TV (What Is Music? and The Set on ABC), as well as for being a DJ on FBi Radio and Triple J. You’ve also hosted podcasts including The Dream Club (with Brooke Boney) and most recently, Tough Love. What do you think is the throughline in all your work and projects? Is there anything you feel especially compelled to pin down or seek out?
I think there’s always been an element of fun and curiosity in each of those projects. I love to ask questions, I guess I’m nosy by nature! That’s why so much of my work has been about discovery, and often involve interviewing. I love to do it with a few big belly laughs too.
I think it’s important to not do anything that takes itself too seriously, but not do it half-assed too. We can seek out stories about the hard stuff, such as when I spoke about fertility and heartache in the Tough Love podcast, but I like to do all that with a pinch of hope and cheekiness.
No.4
You do a lot to create awareness about and promote diversity in media and the arts. Some of this is touched on in Love Language—how you had to struggle and overcome hurdles to be taken seriously and seen. Do you still encounter these struggles? What do you do to overcome them?
There have been times when I’ve put myself in a position to take up less space and to not be assertive when I should have been—out of fear of disappointing someone, or coming across as unpleasant. I’ve realised how detrimental that perspective is, and these days I’m more confident in owning my views and standing my ground. It’s a stronger place to be.
No.5
Who did you have in mind while you were writing Love Language? What buoyed you while you were writing it?
I pictured my best friends. They’re mainly women, who are sassy and big-hearted. They’re discerning and sensitive, they love great stories, and they share books, films and recipes on group chats. [When I was writing the book] I pictured these women, who laugh like crazy when doing funny voices in the middle of a shopping mall, who cry their eyes out when we sit watching a movie because the dad reminds us of our dads and he does something sweet on screen. And I pictured myself—from a few years ago—a person who deserves to treat themself with a little more kindness and who struggles with people-pleasing. I imagined that if I could write an entertaining story for her, that it might make her reflect on her own life.
So many things buoyed me along the way! Coffee, of course. And mainly, other writers! I was reading multiple books while writing mine, and sponging up their inspirational work.
(Credit: Jess Gleeson)
Find out more
A compelling, relatable and powerfully moving memoir of people-pleasing, family and what it means to love and be loved, from radio presenter and podcaster Linda Marigliano.
As she repeatedly over-committed and sought approval in all its guises, she started to ask herself: Why am I like this? Combing through her complex relationship with her mother, the sense of duty within her extended Italian and Chinese-Malaysian families, and the twisting turns of both her career path and her love life, she noticed a pattern emerging. Her love language had warped into acts of service that pleased everyone but herself, without boundaries or exceptions. And she'd lost the ability to translate the vocabulary of love being spoken all around her.
Love Language is Linda's determined reclamation of her identity; a fiercely relatable and viscerally honest account of what it means to love and be loved.
Get it from Allen & Unwin here, or at all good bookstores.