You would think this came from a Sinclair Lewis novel, but it's for real:

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama sent a letter  this week to Carol M. Watson, the acting chairwoman of the NEH, in which he  demanded the agency explain its peer-review process for funding grants that  explore “very indefinite” questions.

Sessions pointed to seven grants the NEH funded that seek to explore the  following questions: “What is the meaning of life?”, “Why are we interested in  the past?”, “What is the good life and how do I live it?”, “Why are bad people  bad?”, “What is belief?”, “What is a monster?”, and “Why do humans write?”

(Thanks to Mark Couch for the pointer.)