Extraordinary Hearts is compilation of one hundred essays previously published under the noted column "Nick Benton's Gay Science" from October 2010 through September 2012 on the website of the Falls Church News-Press and in print in the Metro Weekly, one of two prominent newspapers of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area LGBT community. Benton covered the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Broadway revival of Larry Kramer's powerful play The Normal Heart, a President of the United States proclaiming gay marriage is a right for every American, and the positive progression of gay rights.