Can I Tell You A Secret?
5.0/5
Critic Rating
It starts the same way... A seemingly innocent message from someone who appears to be a young woman: ‘Can I tell you a secret?’ But as this six-part podcast explores, people are rarely their true selves online – and one man took it much further. What happened when this cyberstalker wreaked havoc across the internet and ruined people’s lives. And why did he do it?Can I Tell You A Secret - a Guardian podcast series about obsession, fear, and the lives we lead online
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Ximena Smith • Stuff NZ • Oct 1, 2022
"A powerful element of Can I Tell You a Secret? is Kale’s determination to ask why Hardy behaved the way he did...Kale treats both Hardy and his victims compassionately without minimising the devastating impacts of his behaviour – it’s a careful balance – and Kale gets it just right."
Score: 4.9
Patricia Nicol • The Times UK • Sep 25, 2022
"In moving testimony the victims of the serial cyberstalker Matthew Hardy tell the reporter Sirin Kale about years of being trolled. This is a well-told, even-handed tale. When Kale talks to Hardy’s neighbours, a sad picture of an isolated, autistic loner emerges."
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Sep 24, 2022
"Both are brilliant on detail, and this is an impressive, sensitive series. It’s interesting to hear a true crime podcast that examines all aspects of the crime, including the question of support for the perpetrator. It leads to less of a thrill, perhaps, but far more realness: sadness, subtlety, awful disappointment in parts of our policing, social work and prison systems. So often, such series don’t bother to tell the full story, but Can I Tell You a Secret? aims high and delivers."
Score: 5
Alexi Duggins • The Guardian • Sep 22, 2022
"...a gripping series that’s a vivid human portrait of those affected – and a fascinating tale of what might cause such behaviour."
