So I'm tired of dealing with Google not respecting my content preferences and I'm looking for a story viewer with a little bit more control. Anyone have any ideas or good programs?
Flipboard is a little more customizable but not sure if it meets all your requirements.
You could also give Pocket a try, it has a "Discover" mode that could be what you're looking for. Made by Mozilla so (hopefully) that comes with a little more privacy built in. It'd be my personal choice, but I'm not sure what features you need
To get you started on your self-curated list of feeds, you could have a look at https://ooh.directory/
I think it’s neat to not only have the big and obvious sites in your feedreader that push dozens of items per day, but also some assorted small and cozy blogs that tickle your interests.