public function the_pods() {

		// use the cached results
		$key      = '_pods_pfat_the_pods';
		$the_pods = pods_transient_get( $key );

		// check if we already have the results cached & use it if we can.
		if ( false === $the_pods ) {
			// get all post type pods
			$the_pods = pods_api()->load_pods(
				array(
					'type'  => array(
						'taxonomy',
						'post_type',
					),
					'names' => true,
				)
			);

			// cache the results
			pods_transient_set( $key, $the_pods );

		}

		return $the_pods;

	}