Explore a cutting-edge talk on leader election in population protocols, focusing on achieving optimal time and space complexity. Delve into the latest advancements in distributed computing, where agents with limited computational power and memory interact pairwise. Discover how the presented protocol achieves both time and space optimality, electing a leader in O(n log n) expected interactions while using Θ(log log n) states per agent. Gain insights into the history of leader election in population protocols, synchronization techniques, and the two-stage process involving dual epidemic selection and exponential elimination. Analyze the expected stabilization time and explore open problems and future research directions in this fascinating field of distributed computing.