I increasingly believe that the precipitating factor in all of this was an in-laws thing:
- He says in this clip "I've spent 20 years of my life not having as much fun" which would be somewhat odd of a statement in the context of his own family, but matches almost exactly the time the in-laws would have entered his life.
- In the summer there was talk of some kind of intense personal problem that involved his family. No details other than that it culminated in what Nick described as "the worst day of my life".
- Now there is apparently talk about them leaving MN? I haven't seen any clip but there's discussion here about Nick saying it.
I do wonder if the personal problem was a massive blow-up with the in-laws which resulted in the severing of ties. I can't find it but didn't someone speculate at some point that the personal problem was that some of them were living in the old house and may have been asked to leave?
Not sure how much is known about the in-laws other than I guess that they are active in some weird non-denominational church, but I have to wonder if that Nick was keeping the degeneracy on the down low because he knew the in-laws would strongly disapprove and now that they have exited the picture that is no longer necessary.