This February, the Moscow-Pullman region of the Palouse in Idaho was the location of Darwin on the Palouse, the nation’s premier International Darwin Day event. The Palouse Coalition of Reason and the American Humanist Association teamed up to bring three of the nation’s preeminent speakers and entertainers to the area to help mark the 204th birthday of Charles Darwin and celebrate his continuing contribution to humanity, science and rational thought. They were:

Julia Sweeney—Known for her four-year run on Saturday Night Live and her powerful solo shows, Julia Sweeney is carving out her own territory in entertainment, one that moves between the personal and the political, the controversial and the comical. Her most recent piece, Letting Go of God, traces a spiritual journey that takes an unexpected turn toward science.

Dr. Valerie Tarico—Author of Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light (Oracle Institute Press), psychologist Valerie Tarico writes regularly for AlterNet and the Huffington Post on Christianity, politics, reproductive rights and the intersection of all three.

Dr. Frank Brown—Dean of the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah; Dr. Brown will discuss the Evolution of the Omo-Turkana Basin, and the age of its fossil vertebrates, in particular some of the oldest representatives of our own species, Homo sapiens.

Watch their speeches below.

Dr. Frank Brown

Dr. Valerie Tarico

Q & A with Dr. Tarico and Dr. Brown

Julia Sweeney