Take Good Notes: A True Crime Podcast by Tonya Branch

A 15-year prison sentence can turn a family into a headline, but it can also force one question that never stops burning: what if the story everyone believes is incomplete? We’re Tonya Branch and Carissa Fox, and we walk through the lived context behind Tonya’s book, Take Good Notes, beginning with the uncomfortable parts Tonya owns about herself and ending with the life-altering consequences that land her son behind bars after a voluntary manslaughter plea deal.We talk about domestic violence with the nuance it deserves: how men can also be victims and how women can also be aggressors, why male victims often stay quiet, and how stigma shapes who gets believed. Tonya shares a raw timeline of coercive control, escalating violence, addiction, and the cover stories that hide abuse in plain sight, including the moments where she fought back and how that complicated everything.You’ll hear the turning points that finally changed the direction of her life: a home invaded by drug debt, a terrifying gun incident that ends with a SWAT team, and the final line she draws when her children are pulled into danger. We also talk about rebuilding after leaving, the reality of single motherhood, and what it feels like to discover a relationship without physical abuse.If you care about trauma-informed storytelling, intimate partner violence, and how the criminal justice system intersects with family history, this conversation will stay with you. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest warning sign you think people ignore.