I’m Tara Button. I build businesses, write books and run campaigns that try to answer that question, from products made to last a lifetime to what AI is doing to the way our children learn.
Three subjects I keep coming back to. If you’re commissioning a piece or need a voice on one of them, I’d like to hear from you.
The stories children read teach them what’s normal: who gets to be the hero, what’s funny, what a good life looks like. I’m interested in who decides that, and what changes when the gatekeepers do.
Children growing up now will be taught, entertained and sold to by AI. I build AI systems for a living, so I write about it from the inside: what it’s good for, what it should never be allowed to do, and what parents and schools should be asking.
Most of what we buy is designed to be replaced. I’ve spent a decade showing there’s another way, for shoppers, for the businesses that make things, and for the policy that governs them.
I write for and appear on The Times and the BBC. Buy Me Once has been covered by the Guardian, the Telegraph and Forbes, among many others. Bios, high-resolution photos and a fast reply are one email away.
Email me about a story“When eight different people send me a link to the same website in the span of a week, I know I have to write about it.”
Each of these started with the same question about the long term.
A shop for products built to last, researched so you only have to buy them once. It began with a blue Le Creuset pot I was given for my 30th birthday, and went viral in 2016.
buymeonce.co.ukA certified B Corp, acquired by the second-hand shopping company Faircado.
An audiobook player with one big button, for parents who are older, blind or living with dementia. Their family choose the books and leave voice messages.
readingtoruth.comA community interest company starting a new British tradition: every Easter, plant a blossom tree in your community.
eastertrees.comPersonalised story intelligence for film and TV producers: books, journalism and true stories, filtered to the slate they’re building.
theariel.tvNew essays on children, media and AI will be published here.
The lost art of buying for life. HarperCollins (UK) and Penguin Random House (US).
A practical guide to owning fewer, better things: how to choose what lasts, why we’re sold what doesn’t, and how much happier the alternative can make you.
“Brilliant idea.”
In progress. Represented by Aevitas Creative Management.
I’m writing stories for young readers that take on the same big questions with a lighter touch. Publishing enquiries go to my agent at Aevitas.
I speak to businesses, schools, festivals and conferences about long-term thinking, throwaway culture, what AI means for children, and building companies with a purpose. Talks are practical, personal and usually start with a pot.
Ask about a talkI design and build working AI and automation systems for organisations with a social purpose: charities, ethical brands and small teams who need to do far more with the people they have. You get things that run, not a strategy deck.
Tell me what you need